GOVERNMENT CAMP -- Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies arrested a fraud suspect in the unlikeliest of places, a chair lift at Timberline Lodge.
It all started as Janine Organiz, of Aurora was working on her home computer and got a call from the fraud department at Visa.
“Someone's using your card, are you at this location, I'm like no,” Organiz said.
Somebody was racking up one purchase after another at the gift shop at Timberline Lodge.
“I called them within six minutes of them doing the transaction,” she added.
And employees at Timberline were on it. They looked over the surveillance video and helped deputies track down the suspect and his buddies. In a matter of minutes they found the trio on a chair lift up the mountain.
"That's when you want that zero degree day and the wind, you know what I mean, well you figure they were probably scared to death,” said Organiz.
Clackamas County sheriff's deputies arrived at the Timberline and the resort's employees were ready to help make the bust.
"They stopped the lift and then they were taken off the hook, so to speak, and taken into custody by the deputies,” said Detective Jim Strovink of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies arrested 19-year-old Mikhail Prodan of Southeast Portland. He is accused of using Organiz’s credit card number to buy more than $800 worth of skiing gear and lift tickets. He also had an outstanding warrant on ID theft related charges.
“Frustrating, time consuming, I understand why people have Visa fraud now,” said Organiz.
And perhaps the fraud department at Visa was the only thing that stopped a crime spree that started and ended at the mountain.
“We need to stop people doing this kind of crime,” she added.
Mikhail Prodan is expected to be in court on Wednesday.
