Houston man indicted in connection with skimming device found at Tyler gas station

Published 4:09 pm Monday, March 2, 2020

A Houston man has been indicted by a Smith County grand jury for allegedly using a skimming device at a Tyler gas station pump.

Yoelvis Herrera Frometa, 31, was indicted on an unlawful interception or use of electronic communication charge during the Feb. 6 session. He was booked into the Smith County Jail on Dec. 9. He remains in jail with a $1 million bond, according to online records.

Frometa allegedly installed a skimming device at the gas station to intercept electronic communication, namely bank account financial identifying information, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

A Tyler Police Department detective found a skimming device in a pump on Dec. 4 at the Exxon station in the 1700 block of NNW Loop 323 in Tyler. This device has the ability to capture a customer’s financial identifiers and bank account information, personal identification number and ZIP code, according to the affidavit.

A camera inside the pump alerted authorities that the pump door was open. The video showed a man opening the door, taking out the circuit board, inspecting it, putting it back in and closing the door. Officers on the scene identified the man as Frometa, the affidavit reads.

When authorities spoke to him, Frometa claimed he was visiting his girlfriend in Tyler, but could not recall the street she lives on. He allowed police officers to look through his phone and its GPS. The phone showed directions to another gas station at U.S. Highway 69 North and Loop 323, according to the document.

Frometa denied he had been looking for that gas station. He said he was getting gas at the station, noticed the pump door open and decided to look inside. The detective noticed from the GPS that Frometa was traveling around Texas and Louisiana, with most of the places he visited being gas stations, the affidavit stated.

According to the affidavit, authorities found a screwdriver with a socket attachment and hex key, which could be used to open the pump door, in Frometa’s vehicle.