Retired cop’s credit card stolen after being left at gas pump; $7K spent across city

By Paulina Aguilar

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — A man says his credit card was stolen Monday and used to make nearly $7,000 worth of purchases across Portland after he accidentally left the card at a Keizer gas station pump.

On April 22, John Mikkola stopped at a 7-Eleven gas station.

“I thought it was a double charge, I saw that someone had filled their tank,” says Mikkola.

Then the charges began to build. First at a few Arco gas stations in southeast Portland, then at a restaurant called Two Brothers Rakia.

Then the extended their shopping spree at River City Bicycles. After double-checking and matching the credit card numbers to the receipt, employees recalled seeing the thief.

“He seemed pretty knowledgeable of what he was after and knew the lingo and terms that we use,” said store manager Shannon Skerritt. “Everything aligned with what he was asking and looking at, size, everything. There were no real red flags being thrown.”

The thief purchased a racing bike for $5,767.

“It’s one of those times when you know he got us and hopefully we can make things right and get him and get our bike back,” Skerritt said.

But what the thief doesn’t know is that Mikkola is a retired police sergeant for the Woodburn Police Department.

“I miss it a lot – so I don’t know, this was fun for me, and I just thought ‘I’m going to follow suit.’ I know if you don’t get on this right away, the guy’s just going to get away, so I thought ‘I’ll help them out.’”

Mikkolas’ credit card is no longer usable but he hopes the bike is returned.

“Let’s just get the stuff back to people because, I think, you’re probably not a bad guy. You just took advantage of a situation.”

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