A Des Plaines man is charged with felony identity theft after authorities allege he tried to pick up items at an area Walgreens store that he purchased online illegally using a Morton Grove resident’s credit card.
Vitalii Chopa, 26, of the 9900 block of Holly Lane in Des Plaines, is charged with identity theft – a Class 3 felony – and possession of fictitious ID used to commit theft – a Class 4 felony, Morton Grove police officials announced in a news release.
According to the release, on March 22, a complainant reached out to the Morton Grove police to report that their credit card had been compromised and used to make an unauthorized purchase of electronics online.
Soon after making the report to police, the complainant received an alert from FedEx explaining that the merchandise would be delivered to and held for pick up at a Walgreens location in neighboring Skokie, according to the release.
Authorities stated in the release that the Morton Grove Police Department “set up operations to monitor the activity at the Walgreens.” Then at around 8:30 p.m. that day, a man identified as Vitalii Chopa arrived to pick up the items.
He was arrested at the store “without incident,” according to the release.
Additionally, police said he was in possession of a fraudulent ID with the complainant’s identity on it – along with a number of other fake ID’s from various states.
As part of their investigation, police went on to secure a search warrant for Chopa’s home and his vehicle. That yielded recovery of a number of other illegally purchased items, police allege in the release, along with fake ID-making materials.
