YOUR AD HERE »

Two busted for ID theft after allegedly stealing Vail business’ safe

Cheyenne Carter
Special to the Daily |

VAIL — Vail police detectives tracked a pair of alleged identity thieves through their computers’ IP addresses.

Vail police arrested Cheyenne Carter, 22, of Edwards, on Thursday, and her alleged accomplice, Bryan Sohn, 26, also of Edwards, on Friday.

It started on May 21, when the Vail Police Department were called to the Northside Grab-and-Go in West Vail on a report that the business had been burglarized the previous night. A black safe containing employee paychecks and business documentation was reported stolen. Investigators found no signs of forced entry, police said.



According to Vail police, the suspects used stolen W2 tax paperwork, as well as their own true identities, to create fraudulent checking accounts.

Support Local Journalism



Used Web-based Banking App

The suspects were identified when they allegedly attempted to deposit the checks into the fictitious accounts using a web-based banking app. This particular app requires an in-person identity verification at the bank, police said.

Video security footage showed the suspects going into a local bank to try to confirm the validity of the accounts. The bank denied their applications to create the new accounts because neither suspect could produce valid identification, police said.

Vail police detectives subpoenaed their IP addresses to identify the suspects. The owners of the IP addresses used for the fraudulent banking matched the security images captured at the bank.

Carter is charged with identity theft, forgery and criminal possession of a financial device. She is being held in the Eagle County jail on $10,000 bond. Sohn is charged with second-degree burglary, identification theft, forgery and criminal possession of a financial device. He’s in the Eagle County jail on $5,000 bond.


Support Local Journalism