alright so you're under arrest right now you have a warrant for your arrest does any of this stuff here that's in your bag belong to the business do you have an idea as to what I'm actually here talking about regarding the theft no a hotel employee stole nothing from a cash register she took credit card numbers from a comments field inside hotel software how does the law respond when the crime is invisible and all evidence lives inside a phone hi Lexi hi how are you good how are you good hey I'm Sergeant Potter this is Corporal Ingram just so you know both of our cameras are recording um hey I'm gonna have you step out here with so that's okay okay is that a heating pad yeah okay I have a bad back oh do you yeah okay you're gonna come out the side yeah okay alright so you're under arrest right now you have a warrant for your arrest for for what so just watch I'll go through everything with you here in just a second okay oh okay I'm gonna read you your rights real quick and then I'll explain to you what's going on okay and we do have somebody else here to relieve you from your shift okay you have the right to remain silent anything you say can be used against you in the court of law you have the right at this time to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you while you're being questioned if you cannot afford to hire a lawyer one will be appointed to represent you before any questions if you wish you can decide at any time to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements do you understand these rights have been explained to you yes okay so two things you have a warrant for your arrest for driving with a suspended license out of the sheriff's office at 7:00 in addition to that you're also being placed under arrest for theft for what well that's what I would like to talk with you about so what we'll do is once we get all your stuff gathered and everything we'll go down to the office and you might be able to clarify some things for me on that but I'm confident that you know what it is will you go grab them and let them know so they can come in and we can get her things you have your cell phone on you no it's not the desk can you go grab her cell phone for you for me is there anything else you need um my there's a black bag on the back desk that is also mine is it so is any of the stuff here that's in your bag belong to the business no no so the notebook and all that stuff no that's all mine that's all yours yes OK we'll take that out there so before we get going into everything that we need to talk about I gotta go just through some standard questions as part of our protocol sheet today's date is February 7th, 2026 at approximately 2240 hours currently located in the Ellensburg Police Department in interview Room B along with me is Alexis King Alexis can you spell and say or say and spell your entire name please Alexis Lynn King a L E X y s s L y N N K I N G obviously I explained to you that you are under arrest you have a warrant for your arrest for a driving violation but you're also under arrest for um that and you had indicated when we were at the hotel that you were confused by that yeah it's been a little bit of time since we've spoken about that in the car ride and everything do you have an idea as to what I'm actually here talking about regarding the theft no you have no clue you don't you can't think of anything that you've done that would be wrong where you would be uh arrested for a theft charge no okay were you gonna get a pizza tonight um yes okay and did it show up yes it did yes okay and how did you pay for that pizza um with my card I had on file it auto filled it autofilled your card I just I clicked one of the cards that was on there yeah okay so in order to autofill something you have to input it manually first and then save it into your your wallet or whatever phone I think you have an iPhone right so it'd be your wallet so you have to save that on there right correct yeah so tonight you ended up placing an order for Domino's and you're saying that you used what your what you thought was your card yes is that correct yes okay so the problem is you didn't use your card you used a card to one of the guests at the hotel how go ahead no no go ahead no no you're asking no I just I don't understand how that would work I I think we both know how that would work um is there any reason that you would be using your personal phone for work business and putting people's credit cards no for work you don't do that in any fashion is that correct correct OK so how would it autofill a customer's information credit card the credit card number the expiration date and the 3 digit pin how would that be possible to autofill if you're not using your phone for any work related purposes Lexi I I I don't know okay because it wasn't this wasn't the first time that this has happened you also did it when you went to watch the movies on the 4th at the theater do you remember going to the movies yes and what movie did you see I I know obviously what movie I saw I just can't even think right now um Zootopia just okay cause how many tickets did you buy um three and how did you buy those um online online yeah okay and how much about how much was that um 20 something dollars okay sounds right yeah and then how much was the pizza tonight 30 something okay yeah I think it was 40 something but regardless um and even prior to this I believe this is not the first time this has happened we just couldn't prove it then and now we can you live in Yakima yes yes so a while back Sergeant Sedano also took a report from another customer that had stayed at the Red Lion saying hey I stayed at the Red Lion and then a couple days later there were these fraudulent charges on my my credit card down in Yakima specifically down the aisle one of them was from Walmart one of them was to KFC and I don't remember out of the top of my head where the other one was but it was another online merchant of sorts okay and whose name was associated with that so the reason I asked how it could possibly be Lexi that that gets autofilled uh huh is to help understand it cause maybe there's a reason for it I I don't know I I'm not in the hotel business so there might have been a legitimate reason you were using your phone to input stuff but it doesn't sound like it no and talking with the owner it doesn't sound like that's the case either no so help me understand how it could possibly be that two different people had their credit cards used by you on accident to purchase things I don't have an answer for that I can't put words in your mouth because well I could but I think that's disrespectful I I don't want to do that I have my own assumptions and I just kind of laid it out why you've done what you've done by using other people's stuff my assumptions are my assumptions it helps me understand if I actually hear why you did this how you did it and what the purpose was for this might be difficult for you to answer but I want you to do it to the best of your ability how long have you been doing this um recently um I actually just barely started getting actual 40 hours like uh work weeks okay and that was literally starting after the manager we had walked out on us and that's a whole other thing I thought he was a really good friend of mine and I found out after he left that he was actually the reason I wasn't getting hours um I only got 2 shifts a week two 8 hour shifts I got um 16 hours a week at the entire time he was there he gave me a Thursday and a Friday um night audit shift which was 8 hours I asked for more hours many many times he said ownership won't let him he's trying to put me on the schedule I'm taking off um even um hearing from other employees themselves they said that um even when they had to call out or request a day off they're like well why don't you just have Alexis do it she only gets two shifts anyways and he's like no no she doesn't want them he was saying that yeah the whole time I was begging him is that when this whole thing started when you weren't getting the hours I I guess so yeah you guess so no yeah it was so you so no yeah yeah I know I know so I'm just trying to get clarification yeah because that would make sense if you're not getting the hours that you're trying to you're trying to make ends meet yeah that makes sense so roughly again I don't need an exact date roughly when did this start um months a few months ago okay'cause I know I know I have records of accusations made from about that time frame yeah and I literally just recently got like a full 40 hours wow recently um maybe maybe the past few months OK I literally just started getting full 40 hour weeks what month was it that the previous man did he get fired or quit um he walked out on us because of a lot of stuff he was doing behind the scenes OK so basically he walked before he could get fired and our owner was actually doing her own really sketchy stuff with him that's why she never went after him is because they have their own relationship no um not not relationship like that um when it came to money and pay and oh um stuff like that they were doing both really sketchy things so she never went after him because she knew she couldn't because if she did he could just tell on her too so about what month was that that you walked out October November November I believe November and then after he walked out you then went from the 16 hours a week to getting more time now I get a 40 yeah a normal like full 40 hour week and that that happened right after he left yeah because I was the one covering his shifts okay him and his nephew both were working there and he left and took his nephew okay so we lost two people and I was the only one willing to do sixteens okay um and I've been doing that since now that's hard I I I so I I recognize the difficulty of working 16 hour shifts it is difficult yeah so I I can appreciate that um so you lost two people he and his nephew and you immediately started getting full 40 after that right yeah OK he actually walked out in the middle of my shift um and I was doing audit like only overnight at the time and he walked out in the middle of it and he was actually the next shift to come in like he was supposed to be the one to relieve me in the morning uh huh so I ended up staying and working at 16 and I I've just done it since okay um so if if he left in November about what month was it that you started using other people's credit card stuff to get by I I don't know around right around that time around that time okay so how would that work walk me through how that would work I I don't know I don't have an answer for that what do you mean I I guess I don't understand what do you mean you don't have an answer for that I I don't know would you take a picture of their cards with your phone would you write the information down would you take it from the computer no so how would that work um I I don't have an answer for it okay let me see if I can rephrase that then you said it auto fills on your phone which I think we can both agree that it doesn't auto fill unless you manually enter it in there right correct correct okay how would you store the information so that it does autofill on your phone well it just it didn't autofill okay so you manually put the information in there you have to at least one at one point you have to do something it doesn't magically appear correct so you either have to physically enter the information in by pressing the numbers on the phone right or sometimes you can take a photo of it and it uploads it automatically too just depends on what program what platform you're using that kind of thing so those are two ways that you were getting that information or that that it was inputted into those devices what I'm asking is while you were at work how were you getting the information I I just I don't have an answer you don't have one or you just don't want to I don't want to at the moment okay that's fine I think again Lexi I can't force you to talk by having an understanding of how and why this occurs it helps me relay that to the prosecutor because there is a bit of a misconception amongst the general public on how things work within law enforcement people think that we are the ones that charge folks with crimes we are not we are the ones that gather the evidence and the understanding and what is happening in an incident we act on it and then we send it to the prosecutors whether they're in jail or not jail and then they read it and they're the ones responsible of putting those pieces together and then charging them with the appropriate crimes if we mess up and forget something or don't do something so what I'm trying to do is honestly help you as well so that they understand how deep this goes because we have well I'm not gonna tell you how many I know of I'm gonna let you tell me how many different cards would you estimate that you've used in that time I I don't know you don't know no would you have a guess no okay describe some of the things that you purchased with those cards food um hygiene products mm hmm like that's I don't know so today life things like that are needed the order to Walmart that was online that I'm aware of uh when you ordered things through Walmart what kind of things were you buying online typically every time food food grocery items grocery items right okay dinner items and why were you using the cards to buy food don't overthink it why were you using the cards to buy food well like you already mentioned to get by yeah did you have money of your own to be able to afford the food at that time no no how come I barely get hours and the money I make I it goes into rent or um like gas I have to pay to be you know dropped off at work and stuff like that OK um and I appreciate the honesty I do cause I truly believe that you were doing this to get by nothing that I have is saying as I explained before that this was something that you were doing to buy lavish extraordinary things it's all relatively small that I'm aware of thus far uh small purchases regardless if it's small or not each one is a crime I hope you understand so each transaction that you do with somebody else's credit card is a crime do you understand that yes okay um I I don't know what your your boss is gonna do as far as the job I don't know if you're gonna have a job or not I had to inform him of the situation because he's the legal owner of the business and the one that came in no oh they don't know what's going on I was gonna say he's no he's not no no no OK is it a rakesh yeah is that how you say it I don't know Rakesh Rakesh I spoke to him on the phone cause I do know that he is he is the owner and I explained to him we need to find somebody to come in because you're using people's cards for personal gain without approval and that's obviously not OK the reason I ask whether or not how you got this information is important to me because what I don't know whether you're doing I can't say one way or the other is whether you're cloning the cards and you're making cards I didn't even know that's a thing honestly it is okay yeah I I didn't even know that and they they have people in your positions all over that that have access to these things like they have access to people's credit cards by getting information from them right at the time they check in I need a card on file so on and so forth you have access to their name their driver's license their date of birth their uh credit card number everything you need to be involved in fraudulent scams like significantly no I'm not saying that's what you're doing I truly I truly don't believe that I didn't know that was a thing sure I understand but what makes me concerned is the fact that you won't explain or you don't want to explain how you're getting this information and why cause then it takes me back to my detective days I'm thinking okay she's part of something larger where you're giving this information to other people no how are you giving it why are you taking it is just you is it other people are you pulling it from the internet are you pulling it from the wreckage are you taking photos are you texting it to other people no there's that's what I'm concerned with right that's why I ask these questions because we have to be accountable for all that information and you possess possessed other people's information that's detrimental to their lives that can ruin credit and everything else canceling cards that they have payments to the impact for you on what you did also impacts them in a negative way so it's my job to try to run down to what end this is going to impact them and how to help them as well while helping you and your kid because ultimately it's the prosecutor that's gonna read this and go okay was she cooperative was she not cooperative why did she do this you know is she involved with somebody else that kind of thing so if you can provide me a reason that you don't want to share that information that's fine if you just flat out don't there's nothing else I can do about that I just don't want to bring anybody else into it I'm not saying that you have to bring anybody else into it that's how it started though or I believe you how it even came up in the first place cause I never did it's not like I've done it my whole life it came up with what I believe you yeah on that you had to have Learned this from someone right okay so if you don't want to provide that information again I can't force you but if you know that it's actively still going on is that and that person is still employed there and this is actively going on um no he he was the one that left OK he was the manager that left OK and that's why um I don't even know if Rakesh knows that he was doing it I do believe um Shika the other owner what is that Rakesh's wife or I think it's his daughter okay I think it's his daughter okay and what's her name Shika Shika okay I do believe she knows maybe not but I do believe she knows that he was but she never went after him because they were doing their own thing yeah so I'm not gonna ask for details about what he did what I'm curious of again is how you got that information so if you were getting that information from him which I don't think you were because not now no yeah not now because he wasn't here when you walked out right yeah when when the instance that I'm aware of he wasn't even employed anymore so he had obviously taught you how to do this prior to him leaving so that you knew how it wasn't like a teaching me something the way he was doing things I I have no idea the system he has done the opera system or worked with it for 15 20+ years so he knows all the ins and outs and everything I don't sure um he just he didn't ever show me that I didn't care to know I probably couldn't even wrap my head around it it was you had a name for what was it called Opera Opera it's just like the name of the um the system the hotel rooms to log guests and all that it's like booking reservations oh everything okay and you don't deal with that no I I mean that's the system we use okay I'm just saying he had like 15 or 20 years experience um operating it so he knew everything like things only a GM would know which is what he was okay like none of us have access to as far as he did all right and at some point you Learned how to do this it wasn't a learning thing like he never never told me the way he was doing it he just he would just type it into the comments type what in the comments information of okay of the card from the card the information from the card in the comments field of the booking reservation right so then he would have access to that at a later time by looking at that information right am I getting that right what you're picking up or laying down okay so and you watched him do that right so then it's not like hey watch what I'm doing I'm teaching you something wink wink was it something like that no I mean like I said we became really good friends or at least I thought uh huh I thought like we we hung out together like we went to dinner together we like had drinks together I thought we were friends but the whole time it's like he kind of just set me up to fail yeah by that by I loaned him money which also didn't make sense to me cause he was a GM he was salaried I got 2 shifts a week at minimum wage and then just everything else it's like he wasn't my friend no that's that's sad to hear so did you pick up what he was doing then and then realize that he was getting away with it just thought you could too I I guess yeah yeah cause I mean I don't know who he is at this point I mean I could find out but I don't I know that's not what you're trying to do and I respect that but at some point you Learned that process and then you took over that that uh process as well I guess you could say of just entering the information in the comments field is that accurate mm hmm okay now is that something you do with every customer no how would you select which customers to use did it was random just it was random yeah and did you have a process as cause I think I know the answer to this but how often would you use a card before you quit using it I I don't know when would you stop using a card that wasn't yours I don't know okay do you understand what I'm asking well yeah okay so is that one that you just don't want to answer is that that I don't know I just don't know when okay then let me rephrase that um if you have the card say I check in you write down my information on the comments field I check in as a guest I stay I leave couple days goes by you have my act you have the access to my information right you wrote it down the comments field so you have my credit card and the security code and the expiration date my name you have all the everything you need and then you need groceries for you and the kiddo I'm gonna use this card so I'm gonna go to Walmart and I'm gonna buy food and groceries and hygiene stuff at Walmart and I make a list I go pick it up and I need KFC I'm gonna go get some KFC and then Domino's right like tonight you needed food so you use card Domino's would how long would you keep using that card until it got deactivated until you got scared that it would get caught on where was the general rule of thumb for you personally there wasn't like a a general rule of thumb no no OK and how many times would or how many cars do you think you did in total I I don't know OK does anybody else have access to your phone no is it password protected yes it is and what is the passcode for that I don't want to give my passcode OK I'm I'm gotta ask yeah cause what's gonna end up happening is I'll be seizing your cell phone and I will be applying for a search warrant to get into the phone and to identify just how many cards you have on file in your phone OK so I I believe that you are being honest with me for most things and I do appreciate that and I understand your hesitation to speak about others I'm not here trying to jam you up to get anybody else in trouble but if you know that this is occurring within that company within your job that other people in your position are also doing this well he's not there anymore right but I don't know if there's other people that's why I said if there's other people I know you've mentioned that the previous GM doing it yeah and are you aware of anybody else doing this that's currently there no no currently there okay because that could help you if you knew who those were so we could come get that to stop as well okay um I know you have it sounds like cause when we were going through your bag looking for guns and what have you it looked like you had Domino's cards in there and I'm assuming tonight you according to Domino's you ordered that online is that correct mm hmm through an app yeah yeah okay um this this is your time Lexi to speak your peace to to tell me and the prosecutor and whoever else what's going on in your side of the story cause there's always two sides and that's what I'm here to do is to get your side of things and why and this is your time I don't know what else you like what are you wanting me to is there anything else that you think of that you you think I should know no no this case touches five legal principles most people have never considered each one changes the outcome each one could have protected her rights or permanently sealed her conviction Miranda v Arizona 384 US 436 1,966 before custodial questioning law enforcement must advise the right to remain silent that right to an attorney and the right to appointed counsel if the suspect cannot afford one all four warnings were red verbatim the legal foundation was correctly established Burgoyne v Tompkins 560 US 370 2010 continuing to answer questions after a Miranda advisement constitutes an implicit waiver no express statement of waiver is required under federal law every answer she gave from that point forward became part of the evidentiary record against her state v Unga 165 W n point two d 95 2008 minimization becomes unlawful only when it constitutes an explicit promise of leniency reasonably likely to produce a false confession the empathy displayed here approached that line defense attorney will argue it crossed it Colorado v Connelly 479 US 157 1986 voluntariness of a confession is evaluated on the conduct of law enforcement not on the emotional or financial state of the defendant at the time of questioning no threats no physical coercion the legal standard was met Fifth Amendment compelled disclosure of a memorized passcode is testimonial she refused to provide the passcode that refusal was constitutionally protected the officer accepted it and stated he would apply for a search warrant instead this is the only moment in the interview where she correctly exercised a legal right Riley v California 573 US 373 2014 The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that digital contents of a cell phone require a warrant no exception applies for searches incident to arrest the warrant not the demand is the only constitutionally correct remedy Washington State Statutes and applicable charges R C W 9 35 by 20 Identity Theft 1st Degree Class B Felony aggregate losses exceeding 1 dot $500 R C W 9 8 dot 56 290 Theft of Financial Information each unauthorized transaction a separate criminal count R C W9A dot 56 dot theft in the first degree Class B felony aggregate losses exceeding five $0 lesson for the hospitality industry credit card data stored in plain text inside reservation comment fields is an internal controls failure with direct criminal liability exposure access logging data minimization policies and staff training are legal obligations not optional practices she admitted to using multiple cards across several months she could not estimate how many victims had been affected she stated she did not want to bring anyone else into the investigation the phone had not yet been examined at the time of this recording what does the phone actually contain how many victims remain unidentified if a former manager originated this method what is his independent criminal exposure under the same statutes the investigation does not end with a single arrest