Florissant Man Sentenced In Connection With Creve Coeur Fraud

 A Florissant man was sentenced Thursday to four and a half years in prison on charges of aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud targeting victims around the St. Louis area and Creve Coeur.

Jarod Parker, 32, pled guilty in December to one felony charge of aggravated identity theft and another felony charge of access device fraud. 

According to the indictment, authorities said for two years, Parker stole credit cards from people in several public places, including and in Creve Coeur, as well as events like St. Louis Cardinals baseball games.

The indictment said Parker spotted people who were leaving their purses and wallets in cars, and once the propsective victims left, Parker used a screwdriver to open the vehicles to access the credit cards and other forms of identification. He was then able to get PIN numbers and mailing addresses for the cards changed.

More than 96 individuals and 26 businesses were affected by the thefts, and the crimes accrued more than $100,000 in losses.