by Alex Lloyd Gross
Brian Murphy
Back on February 9,2024, a police officer in Warrington was on patrol and observed a male, identified as Brian Murphy, of Philadelphia sitting outside of the Target Store with a full shopping cart of Lowes Merchandise . None of that merchandise was in a shopping bag. Murphy began to walk around and pulled out a cell phone, where he was observed placing multiple phone calls.
Other police were called to go to Lowes and they said Murphy paid for the merchandise. Murphy met up with a female. They got into an Uber car and left. By this time, police were told the male paid for the merchandise, but the car had tinted windows, so a car stop was initiated. The male was with a female, Katie Testa, of Northeast Philadelphia. They provided receipt for gift cards they purchased from Lowes. The Uber driver was given a warning for window tint.
The next day, Synchrony Bank, which services Lowes contacted Warrington Police and said the credit cards used to purchase gift cards was done with a stolen identity of a 76-year-old South Carolina woman. The bank rep said that the two possibly created a fake drivers license and had credit cards mailed to that address.
A warrant was issued for Murphy and Testa. They were both arrested and charged with identity theft and related offenses. They purchased over $2200 worth of merchandise using the senior citizens identity , police said. Total amount police said was stolen using fake identity was $7000.00.