HELMICK

ELKINS – A Randolph County man faces a felony charge after allegedly stealing a woman’s credit card and using it at Walmart.

Jerry Helmick, 48, is charged with one count of fraudulent use of an access device, a felony. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $10,000 cash-only bond.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Captain B.A. Talkington with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, on March 27, the alleged victim reported to the Sheriff’s Office that her vehicle had been broken into and her American Express credit card had been stolen.

Talkington initiated a criminal investigation into multiple unauthorized charges on the card, including transactions at the Walmart in Elkins, the complaint states. To ensure “absolute accuracy despite standard banking post-date discrepancies,” Walmart personnel isolated the specific transaction within their internal system. To accomplish this, personnel searched exclusively for the last four digits of the alleged victim’s card and the exact purchase amount.

Talkington sent a community request through AXON to Walmart Asset Protection and was provided with the corresponding surveillance video matching the unauthorized transaction, the complaint states. Upon reviewing reviewing the recovered footage, Talkington reportedly positively identified Helmick at the point-of-sale terminal utilizing a credit card to purchase items.

On April 14, Corporal Roy conducted a recorded, Mirandized video interview with Helmick at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, the complaint states. When explicitly asked “Where can I find the credit card that belongs to (the alleged victim)?” Helmick allegedly responded that the card could possibly be located inside his bad at Club Aero, which he left there during a prior arrest.

“This admission directly connects the defendant to the physical possession of the stolen financial instrument used at Walmart,” Talkington wrote in the criminal complaint against Helmick.