This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crime & Safety

Woman Accused of Stealing Identity of University of Phoenix Employee

Suspect took personal checks in the wallet to Walmart where she bought cigarettes, a laptop and gold necklace.

A Waukesha woman allegedly stole a wallet from the , then used the victim’s personal information to buy $800 in goods from Walmart.

Carolyn L. Koehler, 48, was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Wednesday with two counts of uttering a forgery and one count of identity theft for financial gain. If convicted, she faces up to 18 years in prison and $30,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Feb. 1, a University of Phoenix employee contacted Town of Brookfield police after she discovered her wallet had gone missing from her purse several days earlier. She said someone had used two of her checks at Walmart in Waukesha and had used her credit cards to spend $130 at gas stations in Milwaukee.

Surveillance footage from Walmart at 2:09 a.m. Jan. 25 showed Koehler enter the store and try to buy a laptop computer for $552, but the stolen credit card was declined several times. Koehler eventually paid with a check that also was stolen from the victim.

Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Koehler then went to the jewelry department where she bought a 10-karat gold necklace and two packs of cigarettes, which cost $357.

Officers found the laptop in Koehler's home. She will make her initial appearance in court July 2. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.