By Paul Tennant
ptennant@eagletribune.com
September 18, 2008 12:00 am HAVERHILL — Shauna David has a warning for anyone who hands a debit card to someone behind the counter of a business: "Watch their every move.'' Police have charged an employee at the drive-up window at the Taco Bell in Monument Square with writing down David's debit card number when she bought food there. The worker later used the card number to buy $67 worth of Chinese food and $30 worth of minutes for her cell phone, police said. "I went through the drive-through and used my debit card at Taco Bell Friday,'' said David, 27, of Haverhill. David said the clerk at the window took the card — "for a good two minutes,'' — then handed her the order "and said have a good day.'' The next day, David made an online purchase from Ticketmaster and found out someone bought $58 worth of food from Sky Dragon Chinese restaurant by using her debit card number. "Every transaction shows up on your Internet,'' she said. "Then they called back and ordered another $9 worth of food,'' she said of more spending that showed up on the record of her debit card's use. Next, the culprit bought $30 worth of minutes for her cell phone, David said. "She had fun,'' David said. David went to the police with her story and Patrolman Dana Burrill Jr. took the report. The officer's father, veteran Detective Sgt. Dana Burrill, investigated and Saturday night arrested Priscilla Barton, 18, of Harrison Street. She is charged with identity fraud, larceny under $200 and uttering a forged debit card, police said. That was not the end of the story for David, however. She said a friend of Barton paid her a visit around 10 p.m. Monday and tried to persuade David to drop the charges. "She tried to say it was someone else (who used the debit card number),'' David said. David, however, stood her ground and made another call to the police. The result: Michelle Chase, 18, also of Harrison Street, was charged with intimidation of a witness. "That was such a violation to me,'' David said of the abuse of her debit card. "I don't feel safe. ... I never in my wildest dreams thought she was writing down my information." Deputy police Chief Donald Thompson said what happened to David shows "how important it is for people to protect their personal information.'' He said in this case, it helped that the victim and the suspects are from Haverhill and that the crime happened locally. When an identity theft happens to a Haverhill person in another part of the country, the investigation can be much more complicated, Thompson said. As for local instances of identity theft and stealing credit and debit card information, "We take them seriously,'' Thompson said. When contacted by phone last night and asked whether the employee charged by police is still working at Taco Bell, a woman identifying herself as the restaurant manager said she is not allowed to give out such information. David is no stranger to bad luck. Last year, someone mistakenly thought her 9-year-old son's wheelchair, which was in front of their home, was left out for the trash. Her son Elijah Morales, a Golden Hill Elementary School student who suffers from cerebral palsy, depends on that wheelchair. That story had a happy ending. Elijah got his wheelchair back and Merrimack Valley Dream Factory gave him and his family a six-day trip to Florida in March. David and her boyfriend, Michael Simpson, live on Lawrence Street with their six children: Elijah and two 6-year-olds, two 4-year-olds and a 10-year-old. David works as a home health aide but has been out of work since Sept. 3 to recover from foot surgery, she said. She hopes to be back to work by Monday, she said. It couldn't have happened "at a worse time,'' she said of her experience with identity theft.
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