FORT STEWART, Ga. - The six principles of the Third Infantry Division's command philosophy touches on the element of teamwork. It states that our outfit is loaded with great individual leaders, Soldiers and Department of the Army Civilians, but we will only be as a good as our ability to work together. And, two Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield Civilians and the local community exemplified just that.
Evie Rodriguez, Mobilization and Deployment specialist at Stewart, and husband who requested to be called Rodriguez, a Hunter Civilian, went into gear when they were notified that their 22-year-old son Victor Rodriguez's wallet was stolen.
"His wallet was stolen on Monday, Jan. 30," Evie said. "He went to the gym after school at Armstrong State University. He put his wallet in the locker. [The assailants] broke into the locker and took his wallet. It was an employee who worked there and another student. When he called us, we all went into gear -- as a Family."
Evie's other son, 21-year-old Francisco Rodriguez, contacted their bank, Rodriguez looked-up transactions that took place on his son's credit card and Evie contacted the local businesses in which credit card purchases were made.
"I was thinking about identity theft," Evie stated. "We have a friend who cannot get his credit report straightened-out because of identity theft. My main concern is that my child is a young adult. He is starting his life. Just to fathom the idea that somebody can mess up his credit and that he can have a really bad start in life, that's what got me going."
After contacting the Savannah Police Department and a local restaurant, Evie explained the situation to the manager.
"He said give us a chance, and we'll try to see if we can catch these guys," she said. "The manager I spoke with on the phone received a call from the [assailants] who took my son's wallet the next day. They were complaining about the food and wanted a refund."
The manager realized that the credit card description had the same information that was reported to him, Evie said.
The police department, the restaurant and the Rodriguez Family worked together to capture the individuals attempting to receive a refund from a previous order.
The Rodriguez Family found out that their son was not the only victim whose personal information was stolen.
"They didn't have just one [credit] card, they also had somebody else's card as well," Evie said. "They have been doing this for a while."
The Rodriguez Family explained that preventing the theft of their son's identity was their primary mission.
"Even though it was my son, I am a victim too," Rodriguez said. "Identity theft was a concern of terrorism. I didn't want his social security number being sold or compromised."
If you are a victim of credit card theft, Evie shared the following tips: report it to the police; contact your bank and look at your transactions; and contact the establishments in which unauthorized transactions have taken place.
"I am very proud of the manager working at the [restaurant]," she said. "Without him, we wouldn't have been able to catch them. If this story is shared with a lot of people in our community, they can learn from my experience. At the end of the day we just have make sure we take care of our community."
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