Waupaca woman accused of stealing her grandmmother’s bank card

A Waupaca woman facing narcotics charges is now accused of stealing her grandmother’s bank card and using it to withdraw more than $3,100 from area ATMs.

Miranda A. Barden, 26, Waupaca, was charged April 21 with felony theft. The same incident led to five misdemeanor counts of credit card fraud being filed against her on Dec. 7, 2015.

Also on Dec. 7, 2015, Barden was charged with operating under the influence of drugs while a child was in the car, possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the criminal complaint, Winnebago County Deputy Kyle Beck met with Barden’s grandmother in the town of Wolf River on Sept. 25, 2015,

The grandmother said she had just found Barden’s bank card in her purse instead of her own card. When she reviewed her bank account, the grandmother discovered more than $3,000 in withdrawals had been made without her or her husband’s knowledge.

The grandmother later showed investigators several text messages she received from Barden the day after she reported the theft of her card.

“I am so unbelievably sorry. I don’t even know what to say to you,” one of the messages said, according to police. “I got pulled over a while back and got a bunch of fines for drunk driving and a bunch of other stuff and it was so much money I didn’t know what else to do. … I’m going to pay you back every cent.”

Other text messages reportedly indicated that Barden was concerned that she would lose custody of her child and be sent to jail.