Published: July 05, 2008 10:32 pm      

Portage man facing charges in credit-card spree

EBENSBURG — A Portage man is accused of racking up more than $5,000 on a company credit card during a weekend binge when he was angry at his boss.

Jerry Lee Spaid, 25, of the 300 block of Miller Shaft Road, is charged with two felony counts and numerous misdemeanors in connection with 21 credit card transactions, according to the criminal complaint.

If convicted, he must pay $5,110 in restitution to his former employer, United Riggers, located on West High Street in Ebensburg.

The transactions during two days ranged from $10 at a Sheetz in Portage to $549 in Western Union Call Cash and $1,074 at a Sheetz in Sidman, the criminal complaint says.

While most seem to be for cash wire transactions, $6.18 was charged at Sprankle’s Neighborhood in Portage and $64 at a supermarket in Cresson.

The problems began just days after Ryan McBreen, general manager for United Riggers, issued a company credit card to Spaid to use for “fuel and job site materials and equipment purchases,” Ebensburg Borough police documents say.

The police account of the events:

On Friday, June 13, Spaid stopped at his boss’s house to turn in the company truck keys.

McBreen tried to contact Spaid during the weekend to obtain the crew’s work hours for payroll, but without success.

It was Sunday, June 15, before McBreen was successful.

“The phone call was brief and heated. Spaid had all kinds of rambled excuses for not contacting McBreen earlier,” the police report says.

As the two argued, Spaid said that he quit his job, and McBreen discovered the next day that more than $5,000 had been fraudulently charged between Friday night and Sunday morning.

Photos taken at some of the businesses where the credit card was used indicate that Spaid was acting with one, or possibly two, female co-conspirators, the report says.

Spaid currently has no permanent address, Ebensburg police said.

Court documents indicate that Spaid has promised restitution, but say he does not remember using the credit card.

Spaid was released on bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday before District Judge Fred Creany.