CITY OF LOCKPORT

Woman charged with stealing sister’s ID

A city woman has been charged with opening several credit accounts and charging about $10,000 in her sister’s name.

Michelle M. Ebanks, 24, 102 Washington St., upper, was charged Friday with first-degree scheme to defraud, first-degree identity theft and four counts of second-degree identity theft, all felonies.

She was also charged with one count of third-degree identity theft, a misdemeanor.

Ebanks’ sister came to the Lockport Police Department to report several credit accounts had been opened in her name without her permission, the report said. The applications were for credit cards from JC Penney, Washington Mutual, Credit One Bank, HSBC Bank, CitiBank and Merrick Bank.



Niagara Falls

• THEFT: Police are investigating a car break-in in the 700 block of Whirlpool Street. A 52-year-old Maryland man told officers that sometime between 11:30 and 11:50 a.m. Friday someone broke into his 2008 GMC van by popping a door lock. The victim said two GPS systems and a laptop computer were taken.

Town of Lockport

• LARCENY: An employee at Big Lots on South Transit Road reported Thursday that on Tuesday, two men entered the store. One man used a credit card to purchase two DVDs, and while the cashier was ringing him out, the other man went to an unmanned cashier’s station and crawled into the employee area, the report said. The man stole a bar code scanner, worth about $1,500. Both men then left the store. They are described as white men in their 20s.

• HARASSMENT: A teenage girl told deputies she went to work at an eatery on South Transit Road Thursday and was told some mail had been sent to her at the business address. She said she opened the envelope and found a sexually explicit, hand-drawn picture, along with sexually explicit writing. The drawing was on the back of a receipt from the business, the report said. The girl told deputies she did not know who could have sent her the drawing.

City of Lockport

• IMPERSONATION: Ronald J. Boon, 33, 147 Waterman St., was charged Thursday night with second-degree criminal impersonation. Officers responded to Washburn Street about 11:24 p.m. for a report of a possible man with a gun and found Boon lying on the sidewalk. Bystanders reportedly told police Boon had pulled a gun. A Washburn Street man told police Boon had pulled a gun on him, and then an unknown black male had “jumped” Boon, took the gun and ran off. Boon allegedly told officers his name was Lorenzo Boon and he was born in 1980. Officers learned his real name and found an active parole warrant out for Boon. He was taken into custody. The Lockport Fire Department responded to the Lockport Police Department to treat a wound on Boon’s head. Boon was held without bail and is due Monday in Lockport City Court.

• CONTEMPT: Benjamin N. Carter, 19, 66 Lewis St., Apt. 1, was charged Friday with second-degree criminal contempt. Carter allegedly violated a court order from Niagara County Court. Officers arrested Carter at his home and reportedly found him hiding under the bed with only a pair of panties on. He was held without bail and is due Monday in Lockport City Court.

Gasport

• LARCENY: A foreman for a Tetraults Custom Builders reported Wednesday that overnight, someone broke a lock on a trailer outside a home being remodeled on Telegraph Road. The suspect stole two nail guns, together worth $630, the report said. Damage to the lock was estimated at $20.

• BURGLARY: A Telegraph Road woman reported Wednesday afternoon that while she was away at her father’s wake, someone broke into her home by prying open a back window. The woman said someone stole several pieces of jewelry from her dresser drawers. The jewelry was worth about $3,500, the report said.