Former coworkers quick to ID suspected thief
A Casper man was arrested in late June on suspicion of stealing a former coworker's credit card and trying to spend more than $240 between a Walmart and Burger King.
Only one of the purchases, for $125, went through.
In addition to two charges of unlawful use of a credit card, Julian Salazar is accused of criminal trespass and theft after a police investigation found he had been banned from the Walmart he's accused of shopping at with the victim's credit card, according to an affidavit.
The case began on June 23, when a car was broken into at Alcova Reservoir. The car owner reported a number of stolen items, including her friend's credit card, according to Deputy Tyler Ludwig, who signed the affidavit.
The card's owner reported she saw a transaction made at a Casper-area Burger King after the card was stolen, Ludwig wrote.
The victim and her friend were informed by staff that the attempted purchase was made by a former employee of the establishment, Julian Salazar.
According to police, Salazar allegedly took the card from the car between 3 and 7 p.m., purchased $124.95 worth of goods from Walmart at 8:34 p.m. and attempting to spend $115.75 at Burger King only 12 minutes after that.
The victim told officers that she turned off the card before it was used at Burger King, so the charge wasn't processed, the affidavit said. The Walmart charge went through.
After Ludwig interviewed restaurant staff, he obtained a copy of Salazar's receipt, which included eight burgers, six chicken sandwiches, five order of onion rings, fries, dips and drinks, according to the affidavit.
After the restaurant's manager identified Salazar, Ludwig stated that he looked up Salazar's record and found the alleged perpetrator has been banned from all Walmart locations until 2026 and is on probation for child endangerment and theft.
In the following confrontation with Salazar, Ludwig said Salazar denied taking the card, using it, or being at the lake, Burger King or Walmart. The affidavit said Salazar was wearing shorts that "appeared to be the same pair of shorts Salazar was waring in the Walmart security footage."
Salazar's arraignment date has not yet been set.
Dylan Farrell can be reached at 307-266-0592, or on X Love
Reporter and Copy Editor
