Serial thief caught after roommate Googles her

SALEM, Ore. — A woman accused of befriending people around Oregon and then robbing them got an early birthday present: karma.

Vicheka Ly, who turned 24 on Thursday, was arrested in Los Angeles Wednesday night, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

Ly allegedly became buddies with people in Washington and Clackamas counties, Hillsboro and Portland, and then took their cash or ran thousands of dollars on their credit cards.

She was caught after a woman she was living with tipped the Los Angeles Police Department.

The tipster, Jamie Charoen, said she met Ly in Los Angeles about three weeks ago and the two had an instant connection.

"I thought, 'Oh my gosh, it's like I met my sister,'" said Charoen, 20. "She was someone I could really connect to."

Charoen said Ly came to her apartment in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles for what was supposed to be a short stay, but then "one night turned into two, two into three, and it kept going like that."

She noticed that parts of Ly's stories about her background "didn't make sense," and the new friend, who went by "Vee," suddenly started seemed "very manipulative and vindictive."

When Ly went out to dinner with a friend Wednesday night, Charoen Googled her and saw news stories about the search for her. She called the Washington County Sheriff's Office, and was advised to report Ly to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The LAPD arrived at the home right as Ly returned from dinner and arrested her, according to Detective Patrick Altiere of the Washington County Sheriff's Department.

Ly was first reported in August to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, which issued a release in October announcing a search for her. She was indicted by a Washington County grand jury in October for charges of first degree aggravated theft, first degree theft and three counts of identity theft. At that time, her location was unknown.

Altiere told the Statesman Journal last week he heard Ly was in Los Angeles, continuing to scam people and presenting herself as a Nike employee, but that had not been confirmed at the time.

Altiere said Thursday that Ly was booked in Los Angeles County Jail and is awaiting extradition to Washington County Jail.

Between leaving Oregon and moving to Los Angeles, Ly spent a weekend in Las Vegas, Altiere said. He added that Ly is believed to have been scamming people for the last three years, and that she recently stole a car from her sister, who lives in Albany.