HARLEM — A man stole another's identity and attempted to buy thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from an East Harlem Costco, according to police and court records.
Nathan Beard, 45, walked into Costco at East River Plaza at East 117th Street at noon on Sept. 11 and attempted to open a membership at the store, police said.
Beard, who had a forged Maryland driver’s license, used information on it to open the account, but a clerk discovered there was already an account on file in that name, police said.
Beard told the store clerk that he forgot about the account and received a replacement Costco membership card, police said.
He then tried to purchase items from the store worth more than $1,200 believing the membership card functioned as a credit card, police said.
Store workers then became suspicious of his behavior and one worker called the phone number on record for the membership, police said.
The worker reached the man whose identity Beard had stolen and he told the store worker he was not in the store at the time, police said.
He also said he had been a victim of identity theft in the past, police said.
Store workers called the police, who arrested the man. He was found to be in possession of a passport, Visa credit card and driver’s license in the victim’s name, police said.
He was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sept. 12 and released on supervision, according to court records.
Beard was charged with attempted grand larceny, identity theft and possession of a forged instrument, according to court records.
An attorney for Beard could not be reached for comment.
