COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A woman getting a traffic ticket in Chicago threw some trash into the street while waiting for the officer and found herself with far more than just the original ticket, prosecutors said.
Not only did Racquel Ellis, 27, also get written up for littering, but she refused to sign the ticket and ended up having her car searched, according to a police report.
That's when officers found 75 fake credit cards — 28 in Ellis' pocket, 29 in her lunchbox and 18 in her purse, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said in court Friday.
Ellis was charged with felony identity theft.
Police had stopped Ellis for a traffic violation in the 3600 block of West Division Street in the West Side's Harrison District around 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, Scaduto said.
As officers wrote tickets for a broken light and driving without insurance, they saw Ellis throw trash out her window, according to a police report.
Police tacked on a ticket for the cutlery, plastic cup and to-go container she had tossed in the street, the report said. Officers asked Ellis to sign the ticket, but she refused.
So police arrested and searched Ellis, and found the fraudulent credit cards, Scaduto said.
According to the police report, Ellis told the officers: "There's this boy I know who makes them."
Ellis, of the 3800 block of South Ellis Avenue in Oakland, was charged with felony identity theft and ticketed for a broken light, driving without insurance, driving without registration and littering.
Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Ellis on Friday released on her own recognizance with electronic monitoring.
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