Complaint Review: Maria Christina Johnson

Woman arrested on suspicion of credit card fraud in Hermosa Beach Maria Johnson, aka Gia Hendricks.

A woman who posed as the wealthy owner of a modeling agency was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of running up nearly $10,000 in charges on the stolen credit card of a man she met in a Hermosa Beach bar, police said.

Maria Christina Johnson, 40, using the phony name "Gia Hendricks" is suspected of befriending men and women from the South Bay to Washington and Oregon to steal their credit cards, checksand other personal identification and use them to commit fraudulent transactions, Manhattan Beach police said.

"She is just telling people all these different stories," Manhattan Beach police Detective Mike Rosenberger said. "There always seems to be some kind of lie."

The Manhattan Beach Police Department began investigating Johnson recently when a resident reported that a woman he knew as Hendricks charged about $10,000 on his American Express card.

The man told police he had met her in a Hermosa Beach bar and took her home. He dropped her off in the morning, unaware that she allegedly had taken the credit card from his wallet, Rosenberger said.

Johnson then allegedly went on a two-day spree, spending $1,000 for two bottles of liquor at 12 and Highland in Manhattan Beach, $200 and $300 tips, and buying an $800 bicycle, Rosenberger said. At the time, she was accompanied by another woman who had taken her in and given her a place to stay. That woman notified the victim, who contacted police, Rosenberger said.

Detectives believe Johnson used several identities, including falsely claiming to be associated with the Hendrick Motorsport NASCAR Racing Team, which helped her to befriend people to get rides and places to stay.

She had no permanent address, police said.

Detectives tracked her to Hollywood on Tuesday. She was arrested on suspicion of forgery and burglary and held on $80,000 bail.

She previously has faced arrests for identity theft, forgery, theft, bail jumping and fraud, police said.

Johnson is suspected of two similar crimes in Hermosa Beach and is wanted in Oregon and Washington, where she served two years in prison for identity theft, police said.

Johnson also has used the names Gia Hendricks, Gia Hendrick, Maria Hendricks, Maria Johnson, Christina Johnson and Gia Johnson.

She is white, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 154 pounds with a tattoo of Orion on her lower back. Her birth date is May 2, 1971, but she also uses May 2, 1972, police said.

Rosenberger asked anyone with information about her to contact him at 310-802-5127.