Woman busted with 10 fake IDs, 13 credit cards, police say

Traffic stop leads to suspect's arrest

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. – What started as a traffic stop led authorities to find 10 fraudulent identification cards and more than a dozen matching credit cards on Sunday night, according to the Daytona Beach Shores Police Department.

An officer noticed a Jeep Cherokee towing a trailer without a tag on South Atlantic Avenue shortly before midnight and activated her lights to pull the vehicle over, but the driver didn't stop for approximately half a block, stopping at the Bahama House hotel.

Police said Keonna Ponder, 34, got out of the vehicle so the officer told her to get back inside her Jeep and shut the door so the traffic stop could be conducted. Ponder claimed that she didn't have a tag on the trailer because that's not necessary in Georgia and she said that her license, registration and other documents were in her hotel room, according to the report.

Ponder was asked to exit the vehicle because the officer smelled burning marijuana, authorities said. A search was conducted of the Jeep, and officers said they found 10 driver's licenses from multiple states, all with Ponder's pictures on them with different names; 13 credit cards that were associated with the names on the fraudulent IDs; an open container of gin; 1.6 grams of marijuana; and a metal smoking device, the report said.

Ponder claimed the fraudulent IDs were novelty items that she sometimes uses because she does not have an ID, officials said. She said the credit cards were not valid.

Police said they also found a number of shopping bags from Kohl's, Home Depot, Best Buy, Lowe's and JCPenney, all containing items with the tags still on them that had been purchased using store credit cards.

The thousands of dollars worth of items included a Google Pixelbook, four Nest protection devices, a grill cover and more, according to the affidavit.

"You can get on the internet and you can find out how to purchase these and you can make drivers licenses for whatever you want," said Chief Stephan Dembinsky. "Eastern Europeans are doing this. They steal your identities, they sell the information, you make up the credit card, you get the magnetic stripe and it works for a while until somebody figures it out." 
 

Ponder was arrested on multiple charges, including possession of a counterfeit ID, driving with a suspended license and trafficking in counterfeit credit cards. She's being held at the Volusia County Jail without bond.


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