Supermodel Arrested For Costly Crime

Friday, December 30, 2005

LOS ANGELES -- A 30-year-old Saugus woman who has appeared on hundreds of magazine covers as a super model was out on bail today, facing charges for allegedly using other people's credit cards to buy $10,000 worth of household appliances.

Beverly Peele was arrested on Monday around 7:30 p.m. by deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Santa Clarita Station, said sheriff's Deputy Colin Matsumoto.

Peele was booked on suspicion of "use of expired or forged access cards," Matsumoto said. She was released on $20,000 bail at 7 last night, said sheriff's Lt. Dianne Walker.

The woman faces two counts of felony grand theft. She is scheduled to appear on Jan. 5 in Newhall Superior Court in Valencia, Matsumoto said.

Peele allegedly found a wallet in a shopping cart and returned it to its owner, who later received billings on her credit card statement for items she did not purchase, sheriff's Detective John Howard told The Signal newspaper.

Howard told The Signal another victim also received similar billings after he used his credit card at John Robert Powers modeling agency, where Peele works.

Although the items ordered with the credit cards were placed in the victims' names, they were delivered to Peele's home address, giving investigators a clear paper trail to follow, Howard told The Signal.

At Peele's home, investigators confiscated Sears and Maytag appliances and furniture that was purchased with the credit cards, Howard told The Signal.

The 6-foot-tall Peele has been modeling since she was 11 years old and has been featured on the cover of more than 250 magazines, according to the John Robert Powers Web site.

Neighbors said Peele is a nice woman and a good mother, and they're stunned over her arrest.

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