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[November 15, 2012] Police charge Conewago Twp. man with 29 counts of identity theft YORK, Pa., Nov 15, 2012 (York Daily Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A Conewago Township man used his job at an insurance agency to take out credit cards in clients' names and then racked up between $30,000 to 50,000 in charges, according to Northern York County Regional Police. Several of the victims were neighbors of Marshall Anthony Bradley, and one of them was his own 6-year-old son, according to charging documents. After a six-month investigation, Northern York County Regional Police arrested Bradley, 33, of the first block of Hunter Creek Drive, on Nov. 7 and took him to York County Prison. Bradley, both a student at the Harrisburg Area Community College and an employee of a State Farm office in Manchester Township, was accessing personal information of victims through the insurance agency's computerized files, police said. He would then apply for credit cards in the names of the victims and have the cards sent to the victims' addresses, police said. When the credit cards were delivered by mail, Bradley would take them from the victims' mailboxes, police said. "A couple of them only lived a house or two away from him," Northern Regional Lt. David Lash said. Bradley would then use the cards until they were maxed out or cancelled, police said. Lash said that as a result of Bradley's alleged actions, many of the victims now have to contend with bad credit ratings. "Credit is much like a reputation -- it takes you a long time to build it up, but you can lose it in a minute," Lash said. "Some of these people didn't even know there were credit cards out in their name, which is scary." Manchester Township resident Allan Hmeil, whose wife, Rebecca, is listed in charging documents, said Wednesday he was stunned to find out from Northern Regional Detective Mark Baker that he and his wife were victims of fraud. "I said, 'This is unbelievable,'" he said. "I'm pissed ... This is the first time in my whole life somebody did something to my family -- my wife's upset." Bradley, who is out on bail, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Police's investigation began on July 15 when Manchester Township resident Jeanie Kenney called them to say she had been receiving phone calls from a collection agency for Chase Bank about an overdue balance on a credit card. Kenney said that she did not have a credit card through Chase Bank, nor did she have a Discover card, as a credit report indicated, police said. Baker then found that the Chase card in Kenney's name had been used at numerous local businesses to make purchases. He then was able to view surveillance footage of the man using the card at one of the stores. The detective then found more stores -- and more video surveillance -- from stores where the Discover card in Kenney's name was used, police said. All of the footage showed the same man, driving one of two vehicles. When another victim, Paul Hartlaub, of Paradise Township, came forward, Baker was able to gain an Internet Protocol address, which was traced back to both the State Farm agency and Harrisburg Area Community College. "He (Bradley) was the only employee of the insurance company who was also affiliated with HACC," Lash said. Also, the street addresses associated with the vehicles came back to a woman believed to be Bradley's wife, police said. Baker found that on July 28, Bradley reported a theft of a HACC math book from one of his vehicles to Northern Regional. Baker then found a license photo of Bradley, and matched it with the man seen in the surveillance footage. Baker then contacted HACC and discovered that Bradley was a student there, which would have given him access to the institution's IP address. On Aug. 16, Baker used a warrant at Bradley's home to search his vehicles and seize desktop computers and laptops. While police were there, Bradley came home, and agreed to go to Northern Regional's headquarters to be interviewed. "Bradley stated he had been involved in stealing identification from random people in the area," charging documents state. Lash praised Baker's methodical efforts and patience during the lengthy investigation. "Every time we thought we had it wrapped up, we were able to locate more victims," he said. After having spent two days in York County Prison, Bradley posted $150,000 bail and was released Nov. 9, Lash said. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Margaret L. Bria on Dec. 10, according to court records. Lash said that so far, the credit card companies with whom Northern Regional has communicated have been cooperative with both the investigation and the victims, Lash said. "Even though there's some hoops to jump through, hopefully it won't be as bad as it could have been," Lash said. ___ (c)2012 York Daily Record (York, Pa.) 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