Linton man accused of using stolen credit card for gas and one bottle of red soda pop

A Linton man accused of stealing a cell phone and arrested in August is now facing another accusation of theft. This time he’s accused of stealing a wallet out of a car and using a credit card to buy gas for his truck, and one bottle of red soda pop.

Damian Russell

Damian Scott Russell, 22, Linton, was booked in to the Greene County Jail early Sunday, September 23, by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Alan Jackson.

Russell was scheduled to appear in court for an initial hearing early Tuesday when he’s expected to be charged with fraud – a Level 6 felony, and theft with a prior conviction for theft – a Level 6 felony.

He was arrested on a warrant issued back on September 5 following an investigation by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy James Carpenter.

Carpenter said the investigation started back on July 3 when a woman called the sheriff’s department and said she and her husband’s two vehicles had been gone through during the night, and she was missing a wallet.

The woman said they had gone to bed at 11:30 p.m., none of their children had gone out to get anything from their vehicles during the night, but early that morning, on July 3, they discovered her husband’s passenger door was not fully closed and her driver’s door and center console lid were open.

She said her wallet contained credit cards, checks, her driver’s license and other items. She had contacted her bank and credit card companies.

Later that month, Deputy Carpenter determined two purchases had been made on her Capital One card early that morning.

Carpenter obtained surveillance video footage from two businesses and reported the videos showed the suspect purchasing $27.60 worth of gas at the Murphy’s station and one bottle of red soda for $1.90 at Walmart, both in Linton.

Carpenter said Russell was identified as the suspect.

Then in August, Russell was arrested and accused of stealing a cell phone from the Dollar General Store on A Street NW in Linton so Carpenter interviewed Russell at the jail about the theft of the wallet.

Carpenter reported Russell told him he did not break into the car and did not steal the wallet. He did allegedly say he had stopped at a friend’s house on July 3 and when he said he needed gas, the friend gave him the Capital One card and said he could use it for gas then return it. Russell said he did use it but he never returned it.

According to Carpenter, Russell has a previous conviction for theft in Monroe County.