BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- Even if you have all your credit cards in your purse or wallet, you may want to check your statements.

The owners of a sushi restaurant in Broomfield helped lead police to a suspected identity thief. Cody Malloy, 31, is now in jail and could face charges of fraud, theft and identity theft. He's accused of making multiple expensive orders at Zen Asian Bistro and Sushi in Broomfield using a stolen credit card number.

In January, the restaurant received notices from its credit card merchant that expensive orders from December 2009 were being disputed. Those charges were for $110, $94 and $79. Broomfield police and Westminster police were contacted.

"We thought it was his card, we thought he was charging it and just disputing it," said Kiki Chuong from Zen Asian Bistro and Sushi.

Based on the information provided by the restaurant, police thought they were dealing with someone who was charging the food and then trying to get the meal for free by having the credit card company make the charge go away.

"When patrol looked at it, on the surface it appeared to be a civil matter," said Westminster police Investigator Trevor Materasso.

7News received a phone call from the restaurant looking for help. We looked at the original receipts and the dispute claims. Because of our questions, police also took another look.

"This was happening multiple times, so that started raising red flags," said Materasso. "The person that was ordering the food and the residence and the individual that took the food when it was delivered, was not in fact the person who was authorized to use that credit card."

The credit card actually belongs to Thornton resident Giovannino Vitale. A teller at his bank told him his account was overdrawn. That's when he looked at his statement. Vitale explains the following conversation he had with his bank teller.

"'You went to sushi [said the teller].' I said, 'Sushi?'" Vitale said. "'You went to pizza [said the teller].' I said, 'I didn't even go to these places, what are you talking about?'" said Vitale.

Vitale got a copy of his recent expenses and disputed nine restaurant charges from four locations totaling more than $500. The charges included expensive tips.

"I said, 'If I'm going to buy pizza, I'm going to give them a $40 tip?'" said Vitale. "How could you take somebody's debit card and not ask for an identification card?"

Neither police nor Vitale know how anyone else got access to his credit card number.

"He still has the credit card," said Materasso.

"It had to be somebody that knew me or somebody that I paid something, to get that number," said Materasso. "Keep an eye on your statement every month."

Vitale disputed the charges with his bank. The bank alerted the restaurant about the dispute. The restaurant was left to believe that the person buying the food was trying to get it for free. According to Westminster police, the investigation stalled when the restaurant first reported the incident because it seemed the issue was a gray area. After 7News started asking questions, police reviewed the information and found a suspected credit card thief.

"The body language, the look on his face was surprised that I was knocking on his door," said Materasso about Malloy's arrest.

Malloy has a long criminal history including convictions for drugs, DUI and assault. 7News isn't showing his mug shot because Westminster police are using it as part of a photo lineup with the restaurant's delivery employees on Monday.

During this process, the restaurant is still out hundreds of dollars in sushi, while Vitale gets his account credited the charges he never made.

"We feel cheated. That leaves us paying for someone getting free food and the merchant just telling us they can't do anything about that," said Chuong. "We called 7News, they investigated, we got what we wanted. I mean, we may not get our money back, but at least we let other people know that this happens and to be careful."