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Between May and October, thieves stole credit cards from vehicles in the park and racked up more than $16,000 in fraudulent purchases at area retail stores, according to an Upper Merion Township Police criminal complaint.
Valley Forge park rangers and township police continue to investigate the fraud. One suspect has been arrested in the case and other arrests could follow this week.
"We're still sorting through the cases," said Upper Merion Detective Lt. James Early. "We're assisting the park rangers in their investigation."
On Nov. 2, police charged Karen Battle, a 33-year-old Glenside resident, with theft, fraud, criminal conspiracy, forgery, identity theft and receiving stolen property, according to the criminal complaint.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the first incident occurred May 27, when a MasterCard credit card was taken from a vehicle parked at Valley Forge and used to buy nearly $500 in goods from an Acme grocery store, Shell service station and Target store in Philadelphia.
Video surveillance cameras in Target reportedly captured suspect Devin Williams using the stolen card.
Credit cards stolen in July from two vehicles in the park were used at a Target in Lower Providence Township to buy a total of $2,276 in merchandise. At least one of those cards was used to at the Bloomingdale's department store in Abington Township.
In August, a victim had four credit cards taken. This time a video camera in the Lower Providence Target allegedly caught Williams and an unnamed woman buying merchandise with a stolen card. One of the cards was used to buy a total of $3,314.65 of goods from Target and Lowe's in the township.
A week later, credit cards and cash were removed from a park patron's car. A video camera in Lower Providence's Target recorded suspect Christopher Kotchmar making purchases, the affidavit states. A total of $1,483.99 was charged at the Target; another $846.94 in retail items was charged at Lowe's.
In September, suspects used stolen cards at Bloomingdale's, Macy's, in King of Prussia Mall, and at nearby Best Buy on Mall Boulevard. A camera in Bloomingdale's spotted Williams, Kotchmar and another person buying items there. A total of $1,895.25 was charged on two credit accounts.
Battle and another woman returned merchandise at Bloomingdale's on Sept. 22, according to the report.
Another park victim had a card taken in late-September. Between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, Battle allegedly bought items fraudulently from Macy's, Nordstrom and Target on this account. Store merchandise and gasoline purchases brought the total bill to $3,837.82. Once more Battle appeared on video, this time in Nordstrom.
Finally, Oct. 28, a Valley Forge theft victim returning to his parked car noticed a window was broken and saw a blue minivan driving away "very slowly" from the area, the complaint said. The minivan then sped away, but the victim was able to read part of the van's license plate and reported the incident to park rangers.
A check through the state Department of Motor Vehicles and a rental car company's records showed Battle had rented the minivan.
Keith Phucas can be reached at kphucas@timesherald.com or 610-272-2500, ext. 211.
