Real McCoy Isn’t Real Smart, According To Official Report
BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2021 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Lauren McCoy and her Florida Atlantic University Student Boyfriend Dennis Racanti allegedly used credit cards stolen from the Publix at 1968 NE 5th Avenue in Boca Raton to buy items from UrbanOutfitters.com, Ebay.com, and other stores.
But when it came time to enter an address for the items to be shipped, McCoy used her home address in Jupiter. That’s all police needed to connect the stolen cards to a real person.
According to a police report reviewed by BocaNewsNow.com, a woman accidentally left her wallet in a shopping cart at the Publix where Racanti works. Racanti found the wallet and, instead of turning it in, took the credit cards and shared the numbers with his girlfriend — 18-year-old Lauren McCoy.
Working from Racanti’s dorm room in Unversity Towers at FAU, McCoy allegedly went on an online shopping spree — but almost every attempted purchase generated an alert that stopped the transaction and notified the woman to whom the credit cards belonged. McCoy allegedly tried to make additional purchases once she returned home to Jupiter.
That victim, who we are not identifying, provided the “alert” information to detectives at the Boca Raton Police Department who obtained subpoenas to obtain specifics. Ebay, UrbanOutfitters, and others complied — giving police enough information to connect the dots.
Those dots led to both Lauren McCoy and Dennis Racanti. Both were arrested.
Lauren McCoy is charged with “fraudulent use of credit card more than twice in six months,” and “use, possess, attempt to use the identification of another person without consent.” She was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail and later released on $2,000 bond.
Racanti, 19, is charged with two counts of larceny and two counts of fraud. He was also booked into the Palm Beach County Jail and later released on $3,000 bond.
Both are facing upcoming court dates.
