At a glance
- Location: Ellensburg, Washington, roughly two hours east of Seattle
- Case period: Reports date to early February 2026, with at least one earlier incident described by investigators
- Victims: Hotel guests whose credit card information was allegedly used without their knowledge after staying at a local hotel
- Critical clue: A repeated first name — “Alexis” — tied to both a pizza delivery and a movie theater purchase made with a guest’s stolen card
A hotel guest checking her bank account noticed something that didn’t add up: a pizza charge she never made, and before that, a movie theater purchase she couldn’t explain either. It was a small discrepancy, the kind many people might dismiss. But this guest didn’t let it go, and her decision to call police in Ellensburg, Washington, would open a case that investigators say pointed straight back to the hotel’s own front desk.
A Guest’s Suspicion Sparks a Police Call
According to court documents, Samantha Warner noticed a pending charge on her Capital One card on February 3, 2026, for $27.75 at the Majestic Theater in Yakima. The charge posted the next day. Then, on February 7, she spotted another unfamiliar charge — this time $44.76 from a Domino’s Pizza in Ellensburg, made around 8:29 p.m.
Warner had stayed at the Red Lion Hotel while working on call for a project referred to in the report as “Aspen.” She called Domino’s directly to ask who the pizza was being delivered to, and got a name: Alexis. When she recalled that the front desk employee at the Red Lion who checked her in was also named Alexis, she called police.
“I don’t know if it’s the same Alexis or not,” Warner told the responding officer, Sergeant Potter, according to body camera footage cited in the report. “But I thought it was interesting that both names are Alexis.”
Following the Pizza Trail
Sergeant Potter went directly to the Domino’s location to verify the order. Employees confirmed the delivery address matched the Red Lion Hotel and that the order had been placed online — not by phone — under the name Alexis King. A manager pulled up the order details and confirmed the name and address on file, according to the police report.
A records check on King turned up more than the pizza order. Potter learned King had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of Kittitas County Lower District Court for failing to appear in court, unrelated to the credit card allegations.
A Familiar Complaint Resurfaces
While reviewing the case, Potter recalled a previous report filed by another guest who had stayed at the same hotel. That guest told a different officer, Sergeant Sadino, that after his stay, roughly $300 in fraudulent charges appeared on his card at a Walmart, a KFC, and another online merchant in Yakima. At the time, the guest suspected someone connected to the hotel but had no way to prove it, according to the report.
With two separate complaints now pointing to the same location, investigators moved to bring King in for questioning.
The Arrest at Work
Officers located King at the hotel and asked her to step outside. “All right, so you’re under arrest right now. You have a warrant for your arrest,” Potter told her, according to body camera audio.
“For what?” King asked.
Potter explained she was being arrested first on the outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended license, and separately on suspicion of second-degree theft tied to the credit card charges. King was read her rights, and her belongings — including a phone that had reportedly been ringing with a blocked number — were collected before she was taken to the police station.
“I Don’t Have an Answer for That”
During questioning, King initially told Potter she had used her own card to order the pizza, saying it “autofilled” on her phone. Potter pressed her on how a stranger’s credit card number, expiration date, and security code could autofill on her personal device unless she had entered the information herself.
“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,” Potter asked. “I don’t have an answer for that,” King replied.
King eventually acknowledged buying three movie tickets for herself and her child at the Majestic Theater and ordering the Domino’s pizza, but she resisted explaining exactly how she obtained the payment information. When Potter asked how many cards she may have used over time, King said she didn’t know — and wouldn’t guess.
Potter told King he suspected financial pressure, not greed, was behind the scheme, noting the purchases were modest — pizza, movie tickets, everyday goods — rather than luxury items. King described working long hours for minimum wage, raising a child largely on her own, and struggling to get full-time shifts until a previous manager left the hotel.
Learning the Method
According to the incident report, King eventually told Potter she had learned to store credit card numbers in the comments field of the hotel’s computer booking system, keeping the information accessible for later use. She said she learned the technique from a previous manager and had been doing it for a few months, though she maintained it “wasn’t all the time.”
When Potter asked whether she had photographed guests’ cards or the information on the work computer, King declined to answer and the interview ended shortly after.
King was booked on two counts of second-degree identity theft, two counts of second-degree theft, and her outstanding bench warrant, according to jail records.
Where the Case Stands Now
Online court records show King was released from custody the day after her arrest after posting a $5,000 bond. Her next scheduled court hearing is set for September 24. Investigators have not said whether the earlier $300 fraud complaint from another guest will be formally connected to King’s case, and the full scope of how many hotel guests may have been affected remains part of the ongoing court proceedings.
