POLICE: Janitor stole identities, accepted merchandise at victims' homes

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- Police say a janitor at a local bank was using his position to sweep up money, but delivery drivers put the brakes on his creative scheme.

Detectives say the man stole nearly $5,000 from his victims, and that he put a lot of work into his crimes.

It is a pricey package Charles and Jeanne Jessee almost had to pay for. "We opened it up and it had three iPods, Apple iPods that have a value of $948 altogether."

Charles Jessee ordered the items off of fingerhut.com -- kind of. Actually, police say a man named Andre Halsell ordered the items, using Charles Jessee's name, birthdate, and Social Security number.

They say he then waited at their home for the iPods to arrive. "He approached the (UPS) driver before he even got out of his truck and he said if you have a package for this address I need to pick it up," Jeanne Jessee explained.

The Jessees are grateful for their longtime UPS driver, who knows them well. "And he said, 'Well, we'll go to the door, and if Mr. and Mrs. Jessee say that you can have this package, then I will give it to you,'" Jeanne Jesse explained. "So he got out to get the package from the back of his truck, and the guy sped away."

Police say the same thing happened to several other people. But detectives say how Halsell got his victim's personal information is even more surprising. Working as a janitor at a local PNC Bank, he somehow got access to sensitive information. But for now, exactly how he did it is unknown. "Somebody breached their security there," Jeanne Jessee suggested. "Something had to be left on or open for the cleaning people to get to those numbers, those should be secure information."

Police say UPS drivers were crucial to solving the case, even picking Halsell out of a photo pack. "Another good, props to them," said Sgt Melissa Motley with LMPD. "They paid attention and remembered what he looked like and took all that into account."

Halsell pleaded not guilty to several counts of theft in court on Monday. "We feel very violated that people could get our identity so easily and use it," Jessee added.

A spokesperson for PNC says the victims won't have to pay, saying "customers are never held liable in a case of proven fraud and that customer information is secured.

Police say there could be other victims. If you feel you are one, call 574-LMPD.