Woman indicted in local ID thefts jailed in Chicago

JEFFERSON COUNTY – A woman indicted by a Jeffco Grand Jury earlier this year is in custody in Chicago pending extraction to Colorado, the District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Andrea Harris-Frazier, 54, was indicted on 43 counts of theft, forgery and attempted theft. The indictment named 28 people investigators believe were victimized by Harris-Frazier between November 2006 and May 2009.

Prosecutors say Harris-Frazier conducted a scam using fraudulent financial documents at a number of banks in Jefferson County an the metro Denver area.

The indictment alleges she used fake identification cards and drivers’ licenses to withdraw thousands of dollars from the victims’ account. Many of the victims’ purses or wallets were stolen, often in other states, according to a spokesman for the District Attorneys Office.

The investigation got off the ground in late 2006 when one of the alleged victims, Margot Sommerville, told Wheat Ridge Police money had been stolen from her bank account. Somerville lives in San Francisco, but was visiting family in Wheat Ridge, where the money was taken from her account.

Somerville became a suspect early in the investigation, when evidence led police and the District Attorney’s Office to believe she was involved in the theft. Somerville eventually was charged in the case, but that case later was dismissed.

“Although Ms. Somerville was initially a suspect in this identity theft case and was charged, she is no longer suspected of having any involvement in this crime,” said District Attorney Scott Storey. “The continuing investigation resulted in the indictment and arrest of Andrea Harris Frazier and established that Ms. Somerville is a victim in this case.”

Harris-Frazier is in the Cook County (Ill.) Jail pending extradition. Her bond on the Jeffco arrest warrant is $200,000.