By Danielle Silva
A woman used fake interim driver’s licenses to return stolen Kohl’s items, violating her probation.
Jeannette Long, the defendant, had been arrested on Sept. 25, 2017. Two police officers, a Kohl’s loss prevention officer, and a probation officer testified during her violation of probation hearing.
According to the loss prevention officer, the defendant had been abusing the return policy at Kohl’s. This policy states that a return can be made without a receipt but a driver’s license will be recorded with the return. The loss prevention officer found the defendant had done four returns at the Kohl’s in Napa. On each date, the defendant used a different driver’s license number.
As he reviewed the security footage, the loss prevention officer discovered Ms. Long returning the items, going through the women’s clothing section, heading inside the fitting room, and leaving without paying for anything. On Sept. 23, 2017, he took pictures of the defendant, her I.D., and the vehicle she was driving following her returns.
The loss prevention officer responded to the defendant’s presence immediately on Sept. 25, 2017. After she made her returns, Ms. Long had picked out two reusable bags and nine items from the women’s clothing section before heading into the fitting room. The loss officer, seeing this, headed to that section of the store. The defendant exited the fitting room shortly after. She had only two items which she returned to the clothing racks before headed out the door.
The loss prevention officer stated her bag was noticeably larger. He went inside of the fitting room and found only empty hangers in the open stalls. The loss prevention officer, having contacted the authorities, hurried after her where he made contact with Officer Brandt Keown and Officer Adam Davis of the Napa Police Department.
According to the police officers’ testimonies, they had responded to a call concerning fraud. Officer Keown appeared first and the loss prevention officer pointed out Ms. Long. Officer Keown sat Ms. Long down and began to search through her bag, which contained several interim driver’s licenses and seven items from the Kohl’s women’s clothing section. The total item cost would have been $410.
Officer Davis arrived second and questioned Ms. Long. She admitted to being on probation but did not express consent for a probation search.
The officers took pictures of the stolen Kohl’s items and the fake driver’s licenses from the bag. Officer Keown also found a template for driver’s licenses in the defendant’s car and six to seven more interim driver’s licenses. The officers then detained Ms. Long.
Senior Deputy Probation Officer Noah Lopez also testified. He knew the defendant and had written a probation report for her on October 2017. Officer Lopez had written about her being arrested and contacting law enforcement four to five days, but they did not talk about it. Mr. Lopez stated that the defendant was not good on probation overall and used false identification in the past.
In arguments, the defense noted the defendant should only be given a misdemeanor for shoplifting. She had provided her accurate name to the officers and in the fake driver’s licenses. Ms. Long also cooperated. The prosecution argued the defendant had used the template and the fake driver’s licenses to avoid detection, using numbers that did connect with actual I.D.s.
The court found the violation was met and requested a probation report before sentencing on March 13, 2018.
