Tuesday August 28, 2012

PITTSFIELD -- A city man who shares his name with a famous Hollywood film actor was arraigned on Monday on close to 20 charges for allegedly misusing a woman's credit card to go to the movies and rent DVDs.

In Central Berkshire District Court, Colin Farrell, 40, and his co-defendant, 26-year-old Sara Tape, pleaded not guilty to four felonies and 14 misdemeanors that include multiple counts of identity fraud, larceny and credit card fraud.

According to the Pittsfield Police, a Harrisville, N.H. woman reported that her credit card had either been lost or stolen while she was attending a relative's baby shower in Pittsfield in May.

Following an investigation headed by Pittsfield Police Officer Shaun Osborn it was determined that Farrell and Tape went on a two-day spending spree using the woman's credit card. They bought steak at the grocery store, went to the movies, rented DVDs and Xbox games and purchased fast food, racking up close to $500 in charges, according to a police report.

The charges went through before the alleged victim had time to report the loss of her card to her credit card company, said police.

Representatives for the DVD rental company Red Box, based in Illinois, told police they were also victims in the case as one DVD and three Xbox video games were never returned to them by the defendants. The company said it was out a total of $144.


The defendants were summonsed in to court by the police and on Monday were assigned court appointed attorneys and released on their own recognizance by Judge Fredric D. Rutberg.

They are scheduled to be back in court on Oct. 30 for a pretrial hearing.

The Irish actor Colin Farrell is known for his roles in such films as Miami Vice, Horrible Bosses and Total Recall.