Woman stands trial for stealing mail
Rebecca Ann Low was identified from these surveillance photos taken at Airway Deli in February. Courtesy photo.
Suspect found allegedly hiding under her home
EPHRATA - A woman charged with allegedly stealing credit cards from a Moses Lake couple's mailbox on Diamond Point Circle is expected to stand trial for identity theft on May 14 in Grant County Superior Court.
Rebecca Ann Low, 45, allegedly used the cards to buy about $200 worth of items, including gas, cigarettes and Lotto scratch tickets, on Feb. 17 at the Airway Deli near Moses Lake, according to court documents. She is now being held in the Grant County Jail.
She pleaded innocent to charges of second-degree identity theft, possessing stolen property and third-degree theft, court documents state.
Low was recognized by a Moses Lake police officer on Feb. 25 after her surveillance photo image was published in the Columbia Basin Herald, according to court documents. A warrant was issued for her arrest.
It was believed she left the area, Grant County Chief Deputy John Turley told the Columbia Basin Herald earlier this year.
Low resurfaced about a month later on March 24 when a Moses Lake Wal-Mart employee saw a woman fitting Low's description at the store, said Capt. Dave Ruffin of the Moses Lake Police Department. The Wal-Mart employee called a Moses Lake police detective.
Low allegedly left Wal-Mart before police arrived and was later found about 10:30 p.m. reportedly hiding underneath her home at Quail Run, a manufactured housing community off Valley Road, Ruffin said.
She was arrested on suspicion of criminal trespassing, obstructing justice, resisting arrest and a felony warrant, according to police records.
The alleged identity theft victims, Jack and Nelly McLauchlan, accused Low of rendering their Conoco cards unusable and reducing their sense of security.
The couple also spent several hours making statements to the sheriff's and prosecutor's offices and credit card officials, court documents state.
"I watched the gas station's videotape in horror as you used our credit card to purchase cigarettes and scratch tickets," the couple wrote in part. "You were feeding your vices instead of your stomach on our account."
It also upset the McLauchlans to see Low allegedly buying cigarettes with their credit cards because their relatives died of tobacco-related cancer, the couple wrote.