Sterling, CO – January 11, 2025
Friday, January 10th, at approximately 6:30 PM, the Sterling Police Department’s Special Enforcement Team (SET) successfully apprehended a suspect involved in a series of ATM skimming incidents at a local bank. The
bank discovered the skimming device earlier that day, and upon investigation, it was determined the suspect had placed the device on the ATM earlier in the week and had returned multiple times to steal card information.
After utilizing various investigative strategies and conducting extensive surveillance, SPD SET, in collaboration with the on-duty patrol team, was prepared for the suspects return. On his fourth attempt to skim information from the ATM, a 37-year-old male, Laurentiu Stefan Joita, was arrested without
incident. Joita is not a local resident and is a Romanian Citizen possibly living in the Front Range.
Joita was taken into custody and transported to the Logan County Jail for the following charges:
CRS 18-5-902(2)(b), Identity Theft, a Class 5 Felony (34 counts)
CRS 18-5-905, Possession of Identity Theft Tools, a Class 6 Felony
Further investigation revealed that Joita had strategically placed the skimming device on the ATM earlier in the week and returned on several occasions to collect the compromised card data.
The investigation is ongoing, as authorities continue to assess the full scope of Joita’s criminal activity.
he Sterling Police Department urges the public to remain vigilant and reporT any suspicious activity to local authorities.