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May 2, 2007
NEWS: Men Tried to Buy Diamonds With Fake
Cards
Thanks to the careful observation
of a conscientious jewelry store clerk in
Camarillo, California, police were able to
arrest two men accused of trying to buy a $3,000
cross necklace with fake credit cards. Hrach
Utudjian, a twenty-three year old man from
Glendale, and thirty-year-old accomplice, Varden
Baltanyan of North Hollywood, were nabbed by
police late one afternoon last week by Ventura
County sheriff's deputies, about a mile from the
Ultra Diamonds jewelry store on Ventura
Boulevard where they attempted to make the
purchase.
Utudjian and Baltanyan are accused of carrying
the fake credit cards and a counterfeit
California driver's license which were used to
attempt the sale. Police spotted the pair and
pulled them over in their car with the faux
plastic and the jewelry in question near Old
Town. The pair are being charged with burglary,
forgery and identity theft, but were released on
bail the same day. They are due to appear again
in court later this week to face the charges.
Police thanked employee Beverly Peterson for her
diligence in the case. Peterson told police that
employees began to suspect the men when they
browsed the store for only mere minutes before
announcing their intent to buy the necklace.
Like Peterson pointed out, very few customers
are so cavalier about such a costly purchase.
Another employee recognized the men from a
previous visit to the store, and claimed that
they had also acted suspicious at that time. The
staff’s suspicions were realized when the men
refused to show ID before the sale was
completed, an Ultra Diamonds corporate policy.
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