Palos Heights police took a report from a resident on Sept. 2 who noticed that her credit card never arrived in the mail. She began receiving alerts from her bank account showing there were two attempted charges for $12,000 and $5,000 at a Worth bakery. The resident said neither of these transactions were through or were made by her.
Video footage showed a man, later identified as Almasri, trying to purchase the bakery products, police said. Almasri is said to have arrived in a white Mercedes G-Wagon with Texas registration. Video footage also obtained a license plate number, and the vehicle was eventually located using license plate reader cameras.
Police said they were able to contact the registered owners, and learned that the Benz wagon was a rental from a high-end luxury rental business. The car rental company was able to provide Almasri’s information, including his phone number. Investigators obtained search warrants, which they claimed placed Almasri’s cell phone in the vicinity of the bakery at the time the credit card was used.
Almasri was located at his residence last Friday in the 16300 block of Parliament Avenue, Tinley Park, where he was taken into custody, police said. Almasri was charged and released and will appear in the Bridgeview Courthouse at a future date, police said.