A Grand Junction woman faces charges of unlawfully racking up more than $18,000 in charges over three months, using credit cards under her father’s name, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Department.

Renee Obrochta, 26, 648 Brooks Court, faces seven counts of identity theft and one count of theft between $1,000 and $20,000 for $18,371 in credit-card charges between Sept. 7, 2007, and Dec. 3, 2007, according to her arrest affidavit. She used the credit card to purchase airline tickets, buy fast food, shop at retail stores and pay for visits to doctors, the affidavit said.

Obrochta told police during a polygraph test May 1 that her father, who lives in Chicago, visited Grand Junction and allowed her to open a credit card in his name in the fall of 2007, the affidavit said.

She told police her father told her not to spend more than $20,000, “but she guessed she went overboard when she applied for four other accounts,” the affidavit said.

Obrochta’s father, Walter Obrochta, told police he did not approve of the charges, and his employer sent police a signed statement that he was working in Chicago when the cards were opened in his name, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, Renee Obrochta spent hundreds of dollars almost every day during the three-month span, shopping at stores such as Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, Target, Kmart and Walgreens.

She also spent hundreds of dollars buying products from the Home Shopping Network in one day, the affidavit said.

When asked by police why she didn’t open the accounts in her own name, Renee Obrochta said she did not have good credit, the affidavit said.

Obrochta was free Friday on a $7,500 bond and returns to court May 27.

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E-mail Amy Hamilton at ahamilton@gjds.com.