ST. GEORGE — A St. George car dealership employee contacted authorities Thursday to report a suspicious woman attempting to purchase a car. What police discovered was a suspect who is part of a for-hire group attempting to purchase vehicles here and transport them to California.
Officers spoke to the suspect who identified herself using the name of a woman living in Georgia and handed over a driver’s license issued under the same name, according to charging documents filed with the court.
Officers noticed the photo on the ID did not match the woman with whom they were speaking, and when pressed further, the suspect said her real name was Robin Sue Legowski, 56, and she was from California.
The suspect told police she had come to St. George to buy a vehicle using the name and identification of the Georgia woman that she handed over to responding officers.
Legowski explained she was part of a group that had traveled to the area to purchase vehicles from various dealerships and then drive the cars back to California where each would be paid $3,000 for their efforts. The Georgia driver’s license, she said, was provided by one of the suspects in the group.
The name provided by the suspect belonged to an actual person living in Georgia, which was confirmed after police ran a check.
Officers then discovered the information provided by the suspect was the same as what was listed on the victim’s social media account and that the suspect also was using the personal information, including employment details, listed on the the individual’s social media account to make fraudulent purchases.
In this case, the suspect reportedly assumed the Georgia woman’s identity in order to purchase “a brand new Buick vehicle,” the officer noted.
During a search, officers recovered a financial card belonging to another individual, along with suspected marijuana and methamphetamine, police say.
Legowski was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility facing multiple charges filed the following day, including a second-degree felony count of identity fraud. She was also charged with forgery and unlawful possession of a financial card, each a third-degree felony, as well as misdemeanor drug and providing false information charges.
The suspect made an initial appearance in 5th District Court in St. George on Friday, and a bail review hearing is scheduled for April 3. Until then she remains in custody on $7,000 bail.
No further details on the other suspects possibly involved in the scheme were available at the time of this report.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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