Charges filed in recent credit card skimming incident

On Thursday, October 19th at approximately 11:52a.m. Officer R. Kelly with the St. Augustine Beach Police Department was dispatched to the Ameris Bank located at 2060 A1A South.

Upon arrival, he met with management, whom were alerted by a customer that had discovered a skimming device on their Ameris Bank ATM.

After further investigation by Detective T. Smith and with the assistance from the United States Secret Service two suspects were identified. Once positive identification was made, we discovered that these suspects were already in custody at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Department of Corrections charged with several similar unrelated charges involving skimming type devices.

The suspects were identified as, Jose Alexander Rojas Arevala, 27 and Daniel Ramon Sangiao Mendoza, 39, both of 7101 Wilson Boulevard in Jacksonville.

Jose Arevala is currently in custody on three (3) fraud type felony charges with a bond totaling $250,000. Daniel Mendoza is currently in custody on three (3) fraud type felony charges and one (1) count of fleeing/attempting to elude a law enforcement officer with a bond totaling $220,000.

Daniel Mendoza also has a “hold” placed on him for immigration.

The St. Augustine Beach Police Department has filed additional felony fraud charges on both Jose Arevala and Daniel Mendoza. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.

We ask anyone that observes any suspicious activity in or around devices that are commonly used for payment with a debit or credit card, especially ATM and gas pumps to contact law enforcement immediately.