Springdale police: Borough man used stolen debit card to withdraw cash from ATMs

Springdale police charged a Pittsburgh Street man with using a stolen debit card to make a string of ATM withdrawals totaling more than $850.

Clarence Fletcher White, 63, was charged Jan. 25 with a felony count of access device fraud along with charges of theft and receiving stolen property in connection with seven withdrawals made Jan. 1 and 2, according to a criminal complaint.

Police said the money was withdrawn from the ATM at the Sheetz on Pittsburgh Street and from another machine in the 400 block of Pittsburgh Street.

The victim told police that the card was taken from his wallet, which was in a bag on the back of his wheelchair.

The man said White was one of only two people who recently had been in his apartment.

When questioned about how the thief got his PIN, the man said he had it written on the wall along with all his other passwords.

Records from PNC Bank identified the times and locations for the withdrawals. Surveillance video showed a man in a blue hooded sweatshirt and a black jacket that fit White’s description making the transactions, the complaint said.

Police also viewed security video from Springdale Manor — the Allegheny County Housing Authority complex where White lives — that shows him leaving and returning to his apartment wearing the same clothing as the man withdrawing cash from the ATMs, according to the complaint.

Investigators said White agreed to speak with them when they went to his apartment. They said the blue hoodie and black jacket were on the sofa next to him while they spoke.

When police informed him about the video evidence, he admitted to making the withdrawals but said they were done using his debit card, not the one reported stolen.

White was released on a nonmonetary bond after his arraignment on the charges. He faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge David J. Sosovicka on Feb. 7.