Woman facing fraud charges in 9 states arrested in LaGrange claiming to be ‘caught in a vortex’

LONDON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — A New York woman was arrested after being identified by the London Police Department as a suspect in a multi-state fraud investigation.

According to London police, Roberta Padgett, 47, was identified after “an extensive investigation.” She was wanted on fraud charges in nine different states and had seven outstanding warrants from Kentucky.

An arrest citation showed that Padgett was reportedly trying to use a fake ID to cash a check at a 5/3 Bank inside a Kroger in LaGrange. After seeing officers, she briefly ran before being detained in the Kroger lobby.

The manager of Kroger told the police that she had attempted to use the ID to cash a $2,000 check in Ohio under the name Elena Vilinetskaya.

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According to the citation, her appearance and the IDs she was trying to use were “not even close.” Padgett allegedly refused to give her name or other information and would only tell police that she was “caught in a vortex and needed the code to get home.”

When asked how she got to the bank, Padgett said she “arrived by a tunnel,” the police said.

After numerous fake names were given, a valid New York ID card was found in her purse, the citation said. It was then found that she had multiple warrants for her arrest.

Court records show she had warrants for her arrest in Jefferson, Nelson, Warren, Laurel, and Oldham counties.

She was booked in the Oldham County Detention Center and was charged with numerous charges, including:

• Theft by deception including cold checks $1,000 < $10,000 — five counts
• Displaying or possession of a canceled or fictitious driver’s license
• Second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument (identification) — six counts
• Second-degree forgery — two counts
• Second-degree fleeing or evading police
• Giving an officer false identity information
• Theft of identity without consent — four counts

Her preliminary hearing was held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, according to court records.

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