UP Police Nab Woman Suspected Of Numerous Identity Theft, Possession Of Stolen Property Counts

A woman suspected of multiple, perhaps hundreds of idenitity thefts and possession of stolen property counts is in jail.

University Place Police arrested Brandi Michelle Blake, 35, this week. She is in Pierce County Jail on $500,000 bail.

Her arrest - which took place earlier this week - stems from an Aug. 3 incident in which a Fircrest woman who parked her car at Chambers Bay Golf Course reported her car broken into and purse missing.

The woman learned that someone had tried to use the cards at multiple stores in Tacoma that day, according to court documents. Authorities contacted the businesses, including AutoZone, where a woman tried to purchase the items but fled after clerks confronted her over the stolen card. The bag of items she carried included spray cans, which police used to obtain fingerprints.

According to court documents, a woman bought $101.35 worth of items at 7-11 that day.

"A transaction was found and surveillance video copied," according to court documents. "The transaction took place at 7:18 a.m. and a female made the purchase and left in a blue and white, 80’s to 90’s Chevy Blazer with a distinctive decal in the rear lower portion of the passenger side window."

On Tuesday, UP Interim Police Chief Larry Minturn observed Blake enter a home at 7523 Lakewood Drive, according to court papers.

"Several hours later, Minturn returned to the residence and could see a white and blue Chevy Blazer parked partially exposed behind the residence. Minturn observed a decal in the rear window that matched the surveillance video from 7-11."

That afternoon, Minturn followed the car as it left the residence, stopped it near Mount Tahoma High School and arrested Blake.

According to UP Police Sgt. Mike Blair, police obtained a warrant and searched the vehicle.

"We recovered literally hundreds of stolen credit cards, crystal meth and purses that we worked back to other vehicle prowls in the county. Tacoma jumped on and cleared some of theirs, and it looks like she may be connected to crimes in Bellingham, Issaquah as well Puyallup."

Blake, who has since been charged with multiple counts out of Tacoma, is next scheduled to appear in Pierce County Superior Court on Aug. 24.