Grapevine RC Awards Vocational Excellence Award

 

As a new detective he was assigned a case that generated a lot of attention on social media despite not being a criminal matter.  The case involved numerous victims from throughout the United States who had sent t-shirts of significant personal and sentimental value to a business located in Grapevine.  These t-shirts were to made into a custom quilt in remembrance of the victims loved ones.  This business was going out of business and quit responding to calls from the victims.  Detective Hartsell worked with the defunct business and coordinated the return of all the property to all of the victims.

Additionally, late on a recent Friday afternoon, Detective Hartsell was conducting a follow-up investigation at the Grapevine Wal-Mart when he heard a call dispatched to the Sam's Club next door to the Wal-Mart.  Without hesitation, he responded to the call in his unmarked police car and located the suspect vehicle being driven by a female.   He relayed information to responding patrol units as he watched the car.  As the first patrol car arrived the female drove out of the parking lot.  Detective Hartsell directed Officers to the car and she was stopped just outside of the parking lot.

Detective Hartsell returned to the Sam's and located the second suspect exiting the store.  This male suspect was confronted and he provided various explanations about what he was doing.  The store manager told Detective Hartsell that both suspects were purchasing gift cards at the self check-out, which is not allowed at Sam's.  Detective Hartsell arrested the suspect and discovered that he was in possession of several credit cards with different names.  Both suspects were arrested for Identity Theft and were subsequently found to be in possession of numerous fraudulently bought gift cards.  Approximately $4,000 in gift cards were recovered.

Despite this investigation taking place at the end of the day, and at the end of the work week, Detective Hartsell dove into the investigation and attempted to identify and locate the victims.  Because of his efforts and tenacity the case evolved into a much larger case involving other jurisdictions and several victims.  The investigation tied the two suspects to over $20,000 in fraudulent credit card purchases.