Benicia Police Arrest Two in Identity Fraud Case

From the Benicia Police Department

Benicia Police officers arrested an Oakland woman on Thursday, May 29, 2013 and in the process, helped shut down a major identity theft operation.

Police were called to the Best Western Heritage Inn at 1 p.m. to investigate a possible fraud case.  A hotel room had been secured through an on-line booking source and it was suspected the credit card used to book this room was possibly stolen.  

Officers arrived on scene and confirmed the card used to rent the room had been stolen from a business in the City of Vallejo.
 
Before officers could make contact at the possible suspect’s room, a male and female exited the room and were contacted in the parking lot. The male, 34-year-old Vallejo resident Adrian Hayes, was found to have an outstanding misdemeanor domestic violence warrant. He was arrested on the warrant and later booked into the Solano County Jail in Fairfield. No additional charges were added to Hayes.
 
The woman, 40-year-old Oakland resident Dayna Huntsman, who has served time in state prison and who has an extensive criminal record involving theft, identity theft, burglary and fraud, was found to be associated to the room rented with the stolen credit card. 

Huntsman is currently on probation after a fraud conviction in the Federal courts.  A federal probation officer arrived on scene and assisted with a probation search of the hotel room.
 Numerous credit cards, employment papers with personal data from several people, tax papers, forged checks, stolen I.D., a laptop computer, a fax machine, a computer printer and drug paraphernalia were recovered from the room.
 
Huntsman was later transported and booked into the Solano County Jail in Fairfield.  Hayes was also transported and booked into the Solano County Jail in Fairfield on the misdemeanor arrest warrant.
 
“This is a significant case where a career criminal set up shop and appeared to be churning out fraudulent documents to advance an identity theft enterprise” said Lt. Frank Hartig of the Benicia Police Department.  “Benicia PD Detectives will continue to investigate this matter in an attempt to identify additional victims and to determine the extent of Huntsman's criminal activity.”