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1-04-2023 12:16am
Westwood Police Arrest Fraud Suspect, Discover He's a Fugitive Wanted by U.S. Secret Service
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Westwood Police arrested 28 year-old Marc Louissaint of Boston, who is wanted by the United States Secret Service, following an alert of suspicious behavior and offenses including assaulting a police officer at Westwood’s Wegmans on Friday night, December 30, 2022.
Police arrived at Wegmans around 9:00 p.m., where the store’s asset protection staff informed them that a man and woman were observed using suspected stolen credit cards.
Store video showed one of the suspects attempting to purchase gift cards by using multiple credit cards at various checkout locations. The man - apparently Mr. Louissaint - was observed doing so earlier in the day. The police report notes that around the time that police arrived, the woman was doing the same.
The woman was unable to be located. But police found Mr. Louissaint and his minivan in the parking lot in front of Target. Officers confronted Mr. Louissaint and requested his identification.
The police report indicates that Mr. Louissaint ignored the officer’s request, walked to the minivan, and proceeded to get in. An officer attempted to prevent him from driving away, and Mr. Louissaint reportedly assaulted the officer while getting into the minivan, and then drove a short distance. Mr. Louissaint then reportedly stopped the vehicle and exited, but continued to resist arrest. Eventually, police succeeded in taking him into custody.
In total, five members of Westwood Police responded to this incident, including one detective sergeant who arrived later to process evidence. The officer who was assaulted is expected to fully recover from the injuries.
Westwood Police have charged Mr. Louissaint with a long list of offenses:
- Assault and battery on a police officer
- Assault and battery with a deadly weapon (i.e., the minivan)
- Resisting arrest
- Failing to stop for police
- Credit card fraud
- Uttering a forged credit card
- Twelve counts of using an incomplete/blank credit card (i.e., card lacks pertinent information such as an identifying name)
- Possessing stolen credit cards
- Possessing a credit card imprinting device
- Using lost or stolen credit cards
- Posing as a card holder
- Being a fugitive from justice
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During booking, police discovered an outstanding warrant for Mr. Louissaint’s arrest from Pennsylvania for one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and two counts of access device fraud. The warrant was issued at the request of the United States Secret Service.
Westwood Police contacted the Secret Service to share the information of Mr. Louissaint’s arrest. Westwood Police learned from the Secret Service that the case is “fully extraditable,” which can be taken to mean that unlike cases where transportation costs may outweigh extradition value, the Secret Service would be extraditing Mr. Louissaint from any location.
Westwood Police held Mr. Louissaint overnight on Friday, without bail. On Saturday, December 31st, he was transferred to the House of Correction in Dedham to await his arraignment, which was scheduled for Tuesday, January 3rd. Secret Service agents attended Mr. Louissaint's arraignment, ensuring the judge would be aware of its interests in the case.
In April 2021, reporter Liz Kilmer of WPIX-TV in Pittsburgh reported that the Secret Service was investigating an individual named Marc Louissaint along with two other men, all from Massachusetts, for committing an elaborate credit card conspiracy in Western Pennsylvania.
According to Ms. Kilmer, the men had been found with re-embossed cards using numbers that did not match actual account numbers. Using a search warrant, detectives in Pennsylvania entered the men’s hotel room and seized over 100 Target gift cards, “Fuze” cards, and devices for reading, writing, and re-encoding credit cards. Ms. Kilmer notes that the Marc Louissaint in the Pennsylvania case was also arrested in Florida in 2018 for charges involving “larceny and forging/embossing a credit card.”
As of this posting, Westwood Minute has not confirmed for certain whether the Marc Louissaint in the Florida and Pennsylvania cases is the same individual whom Westwood Police arrested on Friday.
Thanks to Lieutenant Christopher Sheehy and the Westwood Police Department for contributing information for this article.
