Delaware State Police
News Release

DSP News Release: Chalk One Up for the Good Guys, a Simple Phone Call Unearths an Identity Theft Case

Location of Incident: Raymour and Flanigan, 1400 Rocky Run Parkway, Wilmington, Delaware, New Castle County

Date and Time of Occurrence: Thursday, January 23, 2009, 2:00 p.m.

Suspects: Mackie L. Woods, 51, of Hazel Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Resume:  On January 22^nd, Troopers from Troop 1 were contacted by the Pennsylvania State Police who notified them of a potential identify theft which occurred in North Wilmington.

The series of events began on January 21^st when Mackie L. Woods responded to the Raymour and Flannigan store on Rocky Run Parkway in North Wilmington.  While in the store, Mr. Woods used the identity of a male victim, who actually resides in Bethlehem, PA, to open up a line of credit.  To facilitate this credit acquisition, Woods produced a fictitious Pennsylvania identity card depicting his picture and the actual victim’s name, address etc.  The credit line established was for $14,000.00.

Woods went on a shopping spree of sorts, selecting various pieces of furniture.  In the end, a total of $10,661.95 in merchandise was ordered using his newly acquired line of credit.  He elected not to have the items delivered, and instead, he chose to pick the items up himself the following day.

When did this scheme come to light?  Now when Woods was completing the original order on the 21st, he provided Raymour and Flanigan with the actual victim’s phone number.  On January 22^nd, all of the ordered furniture came in and the store called the customer’s phone number on file to notify this person that the furniture was in and available for pick up.  Luckily for the identity theft victim, he intercepted the phone call from the store.  He was unaware of any purchase and did not authorize any line of credit to be established.  The victim called the authorities in Pennsylvania to begin an investigation. 

This now leads us to the call to DSP.  When Troopers here in Delaware put the pieces of this investigation together with PSP and Raymour and Flanigan, arrangements were made to furtively take Woods into custody.  He arrived to Raymour and Flanigan about 2:00 p.m. to pick up his new furniture; instead, he was picked up by the Delaware Sate Police.  

Mackie Woods was transported back to Troop 1 where he was formally charged with Identity Theft (felony), Attempted Theft (felony), 2 counts of Forgery 2^nd (felony), Criminal Impersonation (misdemeanor) and Possession of an Altered ID (misdemeanor).

Mr. Woods was committed to the Howard Young Correctional Institute in lieu of a $13,000.00 secured bond.

Note: Mackie Woods also has several aliases- Robert Harris, William Green and Larry Elliott.

Mackie Woods