A Ruston woman was arrested Aug. 7 on a count of access device fraud after police said she used her cell phone to photograph a customer’s debit card while working the drive-thru window at a Ruston restaurant.
Ashlei Barnes, 30, was booked into the Lincoln Parish Detention Center on one count of access device fraud.
The affidavit states a couple drove through to order a meal for their family. When it came time to pay, the husband handed his debit card to Barnes, who told him the card reader was down and that she would need to enter the information manually.
Barnes took the card to a cash register, laid it down, looked around, then took out her cell phone and photographed the card twice, according to police. She called another employee over to help her enter the information, charged $40.31 for the food and returned the card.
At 12:17 a.m. Aug. 7, the financial institution texted the cardholder to alert him that a $360.59 charge through eBay had been attempted on the card. He said he had not initiated the charge, prompting the automated system to decline the charge.
A Ruston Police Department officer was dispatched to the restaurant about 3:20 p.m. Aug. 7 and spoke with the couple and the restaurant’s manager, who provided video of the transaction. The cardholder said he had not been certain Barnes photographed the card until he was shown the video.
Barnes was advised of her rights, placed in restraints and transported to the detention center.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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