Police on Wednesday morning arrested two Norwalk residents by warrant in connection with multiple thefts of checks from mailboxes in New Canaan over a year-plus period.
Kimberly Ann Ruff. Photo courtesy of the New Canaan Police Department (a mugshot of Wayne Barker was not immediately available, officials said)
The pair victimized at least nine New Canaan residents starting in December 2015, cashing checks whose combined total exceeds $31,000, and their arrest marks the culmination of a 15-month joint investigation of the police department’s Patrol and Investigative sections, officials said.
Kimberly Ann Ruff, 36, of 41 Wolfpit Ave., 1E, turned herself in to police at 7:15 p.m. on three felony charges: third-degree larceny, second-degree forgery and third-degree identity theft.
Police arrested Wayne Barker, 24, of 10 Christy St., at about 11 a.m. at state Superior Court in Norwalk, where he had been held on a separate matter. He was charged with second-degree forgery as well as misapplication of property, a misdemeanor.
NCPD received the first complaint of a stolen check from a mailbox here on Dec. 12, 2015, according to a police report. Through their investigation, police identified three suspects involved in the crime spree, the report said.
Here’s how it worked, according to police: Checks that had been placed in mailboxes to be mailed were stolen and the payee information was altered (the forgery charge). Then, the checks were deposited into multiple bank accounts via a mobile device, police said.
Ruff was held on $35,000 bond and scheduled to appear the same day in state Superior Court in Norwalk. Barker remained in custody.