Arkansas City police are waiting for the extradition of a suspect from Texas in a recent series of incidents involving “skimming” devices that were placed on automatic teller machines.

18-year-old Vasile Serban of Houston, Texas is being held on a warrant from Cowley County.   He is charged with theft by deception, criminal damage to property and theft, and more than 100 counts of identity theft.

Police in Arkansas City were notified in November and December that skimming devices had been placed on ATMs, and local banks notified the affected customers.   A man and woman were identified from security camera footage.   The suspects were driving a maroon four-door Volkswagen Jetta with a model year between 2006 and 2010.   Investigators found that the man and woman had skimmed credit card information and then cashed out cloned credit cards in the Wichita area for nearly $18,000.   Police also had a report on December 20th that a man had broken into an Arkansas City Walmart store’s iPhone display and left with an iPhone X Max without paying.  The description of the man matched the suspect from the skimming incidents.

Serban was arrested on January 31st in San Marcos, Texas.  Investigators say he has a history of financial crimes and they believe he could be involved in a string of iPhone thefts from retail businesses from Chicago to Texas.

Arkansas City police want to hear from anyone whose information was compromised as a result of the skimming devices.   They can call police captain Eric Burr at 620-441-6601.

Anyone with information about the skimming incidents or any other suspects in the case is urged to call sergeant Jason Legleiter at 620-441-4444.