Crime & Safety

Woman Charged with Stealing Lakeville Woman's Identity

Authorities say one of Polly Tasha Hobbs' identity theft victims was a Lakeville woman.

A St. Paul woman has been charged with identity theft after authorities found items belonging to at least 15 different people—including a Lakeville woman—during a traffic stop.

Polly Tasha Hobbs, 32, faces a felony charge of identity theft, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. She remains in the Dakota County Jail in Hastings on a $50,000 bond.

According to the complaint against Hobbs, South St. Paul police received a report on May 25 of someone stealing items from mailboxes in that city. A witness provided the license number of the suspect’s vehicle, which police discovered was registered to Hobbs’ father.

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Three days later, Newport police stopped the car because the driver wasn’t wearing a seat belt, and identified her as Hobbs. They called South St. Paul police, who arrived to talk to Hobbs; during their discussion, an officer noticed “numerous torn-up checks at Hobbs’ feet in a variety of colors.”

Hobbs was arrested for mail theft and put into a squad car, where she asked police to retrieve her purse. A subsequent search of the purse turned up two wallets, each containing a driver’s license for a woman other than Hobbs; however, the complaint notes, the driver’s license photos of the two women—one of whom lives in Lakeville—looked enough like Hobbs for her to pass for them.

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Police also found a check register in the name of one of the women on the stolen driver’s licenses, along with that woman’s Social Security number, and counterfeit checks, gift cards and a receipt for a local motel. When she was confronted with the evidence, Hobbs admitted counterfeiting checks, but said she wasn’t responsible for everything police found in her purse, the complaint says.

Another officer contacted employees at the motel, who said Hobbs had checked in there on May 22 using one of the stolen identities in her purse.

When the motel manager cleaned out Hobbs’ room, officers found two laptop computers, two printers, check writing paper, the driver’s license and Social Security numbers of several different people, checkbooks, checks, Wisconsin watercraft license tabs, a Minnesota car title, a cosmetologist license, a Roth IRA statement and a variety of other documents listing the names and identifying information of other people, according to the complaint.

Hobbs’ extensive Minnesota criminal record includes a number of convictions for identity theft, mail theft, theft by swindle, receiving stolen property and check forgery dating back to 2005.

An omnibus hearing in the latest case against Hobbs is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. June 27 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.


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