Man Charged With Use of Stolen Debit Cards in Ocean County

A suspect racked up charges at nine different locations in five Ocean County towns in one day using a stolen debit card, according to police. Detectives elsewhere say the suspect also was arrested for similar incidents in Monmouth County.

An Ocean County grand jury handed up an indictment against Arthur F. Whelan, 34, of Lake Hiawatha, this week for a string of incidents in December.

Whelan is accused of having a stolen debit card Dec. 8 in Barnegat and using it at the Quick Food Mart there; the WaWa in Waretown; 7-Eleven and McDonald’s in Lacey; Cumberland Farms, McDonald’s and Little John’s Deli in Berkeley; 7-Eleven in Pine Beach and Toms River — all on the same day.

Whelan also was arrested Jan. 4 in Ocean Township, Monmouth County, on charges of credit card fraud, according to a press release prepared by Det. Lt. Steven R. Peters of Ocean Township Police. In that Nov. 29 incident, a 56-year-old woman from Long Branch said her purse was stolen from her parked car in the Seaview Mall parking lot, and her bank card was reportedly used in the Neptune City Foodtown.

After releasing surveillance footage from the Foodtown incident on Dec. 20, a  New Jersey State Park police officer identified the man in the photo as Whelan, remembering him from a previous arrest, said Peters.

Ocean Township Police also  were contacted by detectives from Brick, Howell and Marlboro who identified Whelan in similar thefts and credit card fraud cases in those towns, said Peters.

Whelan was charged with possession of stolen property, credit card theft and attempted fraudulent use of a credit card by Ocean Township Police on Jan. 4, Peters said.