Thief takes judge’s card for a joyride

Police charged a Fort Wayne woman Monday with racking up nearly $2,000 worth of charges on an Allen Superior Court judge’s stolen credit card.

Barbara Ann Evans, 39, of the 3000 block of Woodrow Avenue, is charged with two counts of forgery, two counts of credit card fraud, three counts of receiving stolen property and one count of check fraud.

According to court documents, Evans is accused of running up charges using the stolen credit cards and checks of Allen Superior Court Judge Kenneth Scheibenberger and his wife, Susan.

Susan Scheibenberger, who works as a home health care nurse, was working at a patient’s home Dec. 17 when family members and their friends distracted her while they took her car keys and stole her wallet out of her purse in her car, Kenneth Scheibenberger said.

They returned her keys as if she had just misplaced them, and Susan Scheibenberger didn’t notice until later that her wallet had been stolen, he said.

Police said Evans purchased $1,178.51 worth of merchandise that same day using Kenneth Scheibenberger’s Macy’s credit card, according to court documents.

Kenneth Scheibenberger said the thief also spent $200 at a gas station and about $500 at a J.C. Penney.

That same day, the Scheibenbergers told police someone had tried to cash one of Susan Scheibenberger’s checks at a Pizza Hut, even presenting Susan Scheibenberger’s driver’s license. The manger refused to accept the check, but kept the driver’s license and later returned it to Susan Scheibenberger.

As police showed the Pizza Hut manager photos from Macy’s, another employee identified Evans.

Evans tried to pass a fake payroll check using Susan Scheibenberger’s check card at White Swan Supermarket on Jan. 14, according to court documents. The store’s managers told police they recognized the check as a fake and denied the transaction.

Evans was arrested Friday on unrelated charges of forgery and receiving stolen property after police said she tried to cash a stolen check.

She has prior convictions for forgery and receiving stolen property.