Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against a 33-year-old man stemming from the alleged use of stolen financial information and a credit card.
Brandon Thomas Sanchez, of Olympia, has been charged with three counts of second-degree identity theft, two counts of attempted identity theft and one count of driving with a suspended license.
According to a Lacey Police Department report, the victim reported unauthorized transactions on Aug. 16. She informed authorities that she recently gained access to her credit after freezing it last year, and stated that, “she began receiving text alerts from her credit company (Capitol One) of transactions she had not made.”
The victim showed authorities email and text records showing attempts to use her bank and credit accounts for purchases and transfers.
One eBay transaction for $168.19 was declined, while another attempted transfer of $6,300 from her Chase account was also unsuccessful. A separate $50 payment from her bank account to her credit card was processed.
The investigation also linked Sanchez to two mobile orders at the Taco Bell on Martin Way East totaling more than $118. Surveillance footage showed him arriving in a black Jeep and picking up the orders placed paid online using the victim’s card.
Police traced the activity back to Sanchez after discovering he had added himself as an authorized user on the victim’s account, and the primary address listed on the account matched his residence.
Investigators also found that an Android device connected to the account did not belong to the victim, but was consistent with devices used by the suspect in his online purchases and transactions.
He was arrested on Aug. 20 following a traffic stop in the parking lot of MultiCare Emergency on Pacific Avenue Southeast in Lacey.
“I was parked on Pacific Avenue SE and observed a black 2011 Grand Cherokee speeding past me while driving westbound on Pacific Avenue SE towards Golf Club Road SE. The vehicle fit the description of an Attempt to Locate that dispatch broadcasted,” a Lacey Police Department officer stated in the report.
Officers seized a cellphone as evidence before transporting Sanchez to Thurston County Corrections Facilty. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, Sept. 2, court records show.
4 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
OlyBlues
Hopefully the JOLT will follow-through with reporting how the Prosecutor's Office resolves this case. They have a very poor track record of holding property crime defendants accountable and instead dumping these cases or sending them to their favorite "get out of work" program, Diversion. It's a real disgrace to victims and county taxpayers.
Thursday, August 28, 2025 Report this
Acadian04
Amen. Follow-up, please.
Thursday, August 28, 2025 Report this
Porter
If I'd stolen someones identity I'd have eaten at anyplace but taco bell. And $120 at taco bell...
Thursday, August 28, 2025 Report this
SecondOtter
So often "identity theft' is considered a non violent crime...but it's not so funny or harmless to the victims. Obviously this clown Sanchez knew his victim, was keeping tabs on her financial doings, put himself in a position to have full access to her accounts. What shnoothead. Will he be kept in jail until his arraignment or will he post no cash bail ...with the stolen credit card?? Criminals like this need to be kept in jail.
Thursday, August 28, 2025 Report this