CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A St. Thomas elementary school custodian who used the information from her co-workers’ credit cards to shop online at Walmart has been arrested.
Tatiana C. Thompson, 30, was arrested and charged with two counts of fraudulent use of credit card and one count of receipt of money, goods and services obtained by fraudulent use of credit cards, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
The case began when detectives with the Economic Crime Unit started investigating Thompson on July 12, 2024, and July 25, 2024, for fraudulent use of credit card, according to the VIPD.
VIPD mug shot of Tatiana C. Thompson, 30, of St. Thomas.
“The investigation revealed that Ms. Thompson placed orders on Walmart.com using two
separate victims’ credit cards on July 7, 2024, and July 9, 2024,” VIPD spokeswoman Kishma Chichester said. “The orders were placed in Ms. Thompson’s name and shipped to her post office box.”
According to court documents, an elementary school teacher went to the V.I. Police Department to report that on July 9, she was in her classroom cleaning up after school and that Tatiana Thompson, a custodian at the school, was assisting. The teacher said she went to escort some students to the front of the school, leaving Thompson sitting near her personal belongings.
When she returned to her classroom, the teacher told officers that she could instantly tell someone had been in her bag. She explained that she was meticulous in how she packed things and noticed that her clutch was not in its correct spot inside her backpack. Upon opening her clutch and taking out the wallet inside, she found that one of her credit cards had been removed and replaced in the wrong spot. Busy with students and packing up, the teacher called her mother to ask that she cancel the card with the bank.
Despite her quick action, several purchases were made on the card before her mother could get it canceled. The teacher’s mother contacted Walmart and found that the order was being prepared in the name of Tatiana Thompson. The packages, which included glue, notebooks, and crayons among other items, were shipped to a specific address.
A second teacher at the school also approached the police after being advised by her co-worker to check her card statements. Her account revealed five suspicious transactions – one at Walmart.com and four at the local Home Depot. The second woman noted that four trips to Home Depot in one week were unusual for her and she did not shop at Walmart.com. She told police that she had bought food from Thompson’s home catering business on June 29 and paid with her credit card, which Thompson swiped on a machine at her residence.
Police verified with Walmart that three online orders were placed using the first woman’s card. The first two went through, and the third was declined. As the woman’s mother had discovered, the packages had been sent to an address in the name of Tatiana Thompson. The second woman’s card was used for one unsuccessful order, this time in the name of Tat Champ, but the same email address associated with Ms. Thompson’s catering business was used on both occasions.
The U.S. Postal Inspector confirmed with police that packages sent to the post office box listed in the Walmart orders did arrive at that address and matched via shipping label to the orders made online with the first woman’s card. Records list Tatiana Thompson as the registered owner of that post office box. Security camera footage showed a woman picking up the packages, at least once leaving in a white Hyundai that police traced back to Thompson via the Bureau of Motor Vehicle database.
No information could be obtained from Home Depot regarding the charges on the second woman’s card because all attempts were declined and no receipts were generated by the point-of-sale system.
Police contacted Thompson at her school on July 31 and informed her that she was a suspect in this investigation. She confirmed her telephone number and mailing address and was subsequently arrested and charged with four counts of fraudulent use of a credit card and one count of receipt of money, goods, and services obtained by fraudulent use of credit cards.
Thompson was arrested on the charges above at 12:16 p.m. on Wednesday, according to Chichester. The suspect was advised of her Miranda Rights, booked and processed at the Richard N. Callwood Command police station.
Bail for Thompson was set at $11,000.00. Unable to post bail, she was remanded to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections at the St. Thomas jail.
Thompson is scheduled for an advice-of-rights hearing in Superior Court.