Culpeper police say the media played a major role in solving a June 18 fraud case at Rite Aid pharmacy.
Police charged Ashley M. Gray, 24, of the 300 block of Duke Street, late Friday afternoon with felony counts of credit card theft, credit card forgery and credit card fraud.
"The case was solved following a Crime Solvers' tip as the result of a photo," said Detective Sgt. Jeff Dodson. "We credit the media with helping to solve this case."
Police began investigation when the pharmacy reported that an unknown woman allegedly had used a stolen credit card to purchase a pre-paid Visa card.
The media was asked to publish and broadcast the unknown woman's photo taken from the surveillance video.
The response was almost immediate. A caller anonymously called Culpeper Crime Solvers naming Gray as possibly being the woman in picture.
Gray was interviewed by police soon thereafter. She voluntarily came to headquarters to be arrested late Friday afternoon on the charges.
The credit card allegedly used at the Rite Aid pharmacy was reported stolen by a Midlothian, VA woman. The woman inadvertently left her wallet containing the credit card in a restroom at a Spotsylvania County Marina on June 17.
