Columbus police arrested a local man after he was accused of using a stolen credit card to purchase a stove from a local store.
Columbus Police Department officer Travis Harbaugh was patrolling parking lots at 7:30 p.m. Friday, due to an increase in thefts from vehicles, when he observed a truck in the loading area of a store on Merchants Mile, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Harbaugh recognized the driver of the truck, Tyler J. Vandiver, 30, of 132 S. Hughes St., and confirmed he had several warrants for his arrest, Harris said. When searching Vandiver, officers found a driver’s license and credit card that did not belong to him, Harris said.
Officers contacted the owner of the credit card and learned that his vehicle was recently broken into and his credit card and driver’s license were stolen.
Other suspects who were with Vandiver fled the parking lot in the truck and left the stove in the loading area, Harris said. The truck was located a few minutes later in a nearby parking lot and was empty, Harris said.
Officers located drug paraphernalia in the vehicle, which was later towed, Harris said.
Vandiver was arrested on preliminary charges of fraud, theft, a Bartholomew County body attachment warrant, and a Bartholomew County warrant for possession of a syringe and drug paraphernalia, and possession of a syringe and driving while suspended with a prior conviction, Harris, said.
Vandiver is being held without bond in the Bartholomew County Jail, jail officials said.
