Cops: Huntington Station woman stole IDs to pay for cosmetic surgery

A Huntington Station woman stole the identities of customers at the physical therapy office where she once worked and used the information to open a line of credit to finance $15,000 worth of cosmetic surgery, police said.

Andrea Echevarria, 33, of Somerset Street, surrendered at the Second Precinct in Huntington early Tuesday, Suffolk County police said. She is charged with two counts of first-degree identity theft and one count of second-degree identity theft.

Arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in First District Court in Central Islip.

Police said the arrest followed a nine-month investigation by Second Squad detectives, who said Echevarria stole the personal identifying information of three people from customer records at Deer Park PTDC on Deer Park Avenue in Deer Park. Police said Echevarria then used the information to open a line of credit which she used to pay for the surgery.

Police did not say what kind of cosmetic surgery Echevarria had done.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”