The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is announcing today that it has conducted a simultaneous Workplace ID Theft Operation at three locations of the restaurant chain America’s Taco Shop. A total of 11 arrests have been made, including four individuals who were booked on felony charges related to identity theft and forgery into the 4th Ave Jail.
The restaurant enterprise, which has two stores in Phoenix and one in Tempe, has been under investigation by detectives from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Criminal Employment Squad for over a year. As a result of the investigation, 16 individuals were identified as using false identities and social security numbers.
This is the 72nd workplace identity theft operation conducted by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
America’s Taco Shop is located at 2041 N 7th Street and 4447 N. 7th Ave in Phoenix and 735 E. University Dr. in Tempe.
“Identity theft continues to be a burdening problem in Arizona as evidenced by the large number of arrests we’ve made in this area,” said Sheriff Joe Arpaio. “Maybe our nation’s leaders will iron out a comprehensive immigration reform deal that will help alleviate the problem of non-citizens working illegally.”
The remaining seven suspects arrested were turned over to officials from ICE for border violation issues.