Full announcement from the Asheville Police Department:

ASHEVILLE – Over the past several months, citizens of Western North Carolina and South Carolina have fallen victim to a criminal organization operating in the area. The group has been breaking into vehicles, stealing checks and identifications, and then a woman wearing disguises would cash the checks at banks throughout the area. Detectives from the affected areas noticed patterns to the crimes and began sharing information and intelligence about them.

On the afternoon of 01/25/2012 the Asheville Police Department received several calls of a woman attempting to cash stolen checks at local banks. The Asheville Police located the suspect vehicle and arrested the suspect. The Asheville Police Department notified the United States Secret Service and they are now assisting in the investigation as the investigation has revealed that this group is operating throughout the United States. The following is a list of local agencies that have been assisting in this investigation which is ongoing at this time:

The Asheville, North Carolina Police Department
The Woodfin, North Carolina Police Department
The Weaverville, North Carolina Police Department
The Fletcher, North Carolina Police Department
The Easley, South Carolina Police Department
The Greenwood, South Carolina Police Department
The Greenwood County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department
The Greenville County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department
The Federal Bureau of Investigations
The United States Secret Service

It is expected that the number of agencies involved with investigating this group will increase as more information becomes known.

The Asheville Police Department has arrested the following suspect and she is being held under a legal hold at the Buncombe County Detention Center under the following charges with many more charges expected to come:

Vickie Lynn Brantley
W/F DOB 02/08/1961
200 Pendleton Road
Greenville, South Carolina 29624

2 Counts of Identity Theft, 2 Counts of Uttering a Forged Instrument, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Her current bond is $200,500.00 dollars secure.