(Updated: 2:20 p.m.) The Shirley woman charged by Southold Town Police with identity theft and insurance fraud was arraigned this morning before Justice William Price.
Lakeida Walker-Dent, 39, ineligible for bail due to two prior felony convictions, was remanded to the Suffolk County jail and ordered to return to court on Monday.
The defendant cried throughout the court proceedings this morning, and as she waited for her lawyer to work out details with the court, she sat in a seat sobbing loudly about being separated from her children.
Walker-Dent was arrested yesterday by Southold detectives assisted by the Suffolk County Police Department’s identity theft unit after an investigation into complaints from a number of people that auto insurance policies and other accounts had been opened using their identities. All of the victims worked in the same Cutchogue office as Walker-Dent, according to the police report.
Walker-Dent was charged with two felony counts of identity theft in the first degree and one count of insurance fraud in the fifth degree, police said. She was previously convicted of identity theft, according to police, who said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are likely.
Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
