including a multivitamin two decisions made in the first minutes of this stop would end up shaping everything that followed in court one belonged to the deputy the other belonged to the suspect this is not a recap of what happened it is a breakdown of the law that decided how it happened which decision mattered more legally is not as obvious as it looks gonna get out of that or what I got another vehicle right there I'm gonna wait till you walk out well I see movement that's the car right there sounds like there's somebody inside it's moving inside yeah you want it yeah can I go inside and help with this the back window down for me the back window down just hang tight hang tight hang tight hang tight just be in the tank for a second OK whoa anything on your person I need to worry about no oh what the fuck we're taking a minute hold up you're just being detained right now man alright that's all you're not under arrest we're just detaining you right now for investigating a crime man that's a crime yeah yeah we'll talk to you we'll talk to you we got time to talk right yeah alright what the hell stay in the shade yeah we're not gonna take you anymore man we're just gonna talk to you but for my safety I'm gonna hold on to you like this alright alright what kind of crime what kind of crime what kind of crime a fraud crime huh a fraud crime a fraud crime what you mean fraud a fraud crime what's fraud what you mean you got any idea on your own in my pocket want if I just go grab it I think it's in the car it's in the car he said he doesn't have idea it's in the car supposedly where at where at in the car is it the trunk no in the back seat front seat says in the front seat alright you got him I'm gonna hey so what are we dealing with exactly what what what's going on exactly so he's been doing fraudulent transactions on accounts that don't pretend so we have professional accounts that have their cards on file or charge accounts OK how's he getting that information now that's the question so yesterday we did witness him he came in here we have one of our invoices up here he took it when one of the reps went to grab a part for him he took the paper and that's how he gets access to the account numbers these accounts have cards on file and he charges them with a rep in the front and then he goes to a different store to return it onto his personal phone okay so what did he like what kind of exchange did he do here he usually buys parts and sells them like not buy he buys them and returns them in his car okay where does he return them at here or somewhere else he can go any event any advance auto part when it comes to a commercial account okay he can go back to any store and return as long as he has the receipt and the part but it seems like he's been editing them where it shows an actual debit card on file okay rather than the literal account that it was charged on you good so he's somehow getting receipts using the information off the receipt to use other people's accounts yes yeah and then he returns he buys parts on those accounts and then has them returned onto his personal card yeah okay have you been in contact with another store that's been getting these returns there's multiple stores in our district can you bring me the invoices off the printer okay so you guys have like your internal people working it yeah OK we've been noticing it there was a situation with him um last year around September and around June but he was using fraudulent checks is there a problem with checks yeah did you make a complaint then about that we did we had a Detective Casini on it Casini yeah we didn't see him for a while so this is the charge account that it goes out for for 1,002 56 this was one this was one of the transaction IDS and then this was a different transaction for 1,212 charge from an account from Georgia and then he has them returned onto his debit card okay so this is the account you're speaking of is that's what Land Tire and wheels have you made contact with them to find out if this gentleman works for them the he does not work for them yeah the corporate the corporate reached out to us for that they they reached out to you guys about it this account realized that the their account was being charged okay so once the account realized that it was being charged once they look internally they see what stores it's being charged that it was never given permission to be charged okay he's been coming off as if the account was his so has he done any of the returns over here or has he just been buying over here no he's done returns here okay do you have those transactions yeah this is one of them this is a transaction where he returned it to his personal card and then he did one yesterday as well okay so these are all the times that he bought stuff is this a return this one is a return yes OK this is the one from yesterday OK so he buys stuff at stores returns it to other stores puts it back on his account OK so then it brings the actual owner of the account asking where's his money did you you said you're you guys already contacted yeah they reached out to our corporate department in regards to what was going on that's what brought the attention of everything okay and we were all lost like what do you mean where what's going on with the accounting that's when we saw the use of the accounting here and it's been home thank you John okay okay Arthur what's going on today man I don't know what's going on I'm trying to figure out okay I'm gonna read I'm gonna read you your Miranda warnings have you ever been advised of your Miranda warnings before yeah so you're taking me to jail not necessarily what is this for though I don't I don't give me a second let me read your rights so I can speak with you OK do you have your card on you I have mine in my truck look at that that's awesome Arthur you have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law you have the right to presence of an attorney before and at uh during any question or statement okay if you cannot afford if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you if you decide to answer any questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering any questions at any time do you understand each of these rights I explained them to you huh yes I'm still OK having these rights in mind you wish to speak with us yeah what's going on today man alright alright so so so Arthur yeah this is how it works man and there's no denying this this is how it works you've been charging a company for parts and then you've been returning them back to your car there's no there's no debate about this it's fact we have the paperwork saying that you've done this so what is going on man why are you doing this I did that one time you you done it more than one time sir I got the paperwork in my hand right here like literally there there there's no there's no guessing on this one man like we got video we got the literal receipts saying that you've been charging a company who you don't work for from parts and then returning them to a personal card that belongs to you there there's no ifs and or buts about it so what's going on man why are we doing this I heard you're on Parole what are you on Parole for you're on you you were on probation or still on probation I'm on probation you're off OK what was that for huh oh OK so something similar to what we're talking about right now no they said I had signed a paper right that's what utterings is but it's still along the same lines of of fraud you understand that right if you use someone else's information purchase something with their information and then you return it for cash to yourself that that becomes rock I mean have you ever worked for Rutland Tire and wheels in Georgia no how'd you get their information the store what the the store gave you their information while using I want to bring a brush and they gave me a discount and that's how they go they get all the people they get everybody that's how they go every minute cause he's tripping no I'm sure no no way no you gotta go to your sister's app oh my sister yeah go to your sister's app that's how I I got a discount when I say they they ain't like I I just know the number and thing so sometimes you ask for a discount they give you like they put a name in so they put a name in on a discount and they give you a discount that's how I got the the number and stuff okay so you got their personal information to utilize to make purchases no that's the thing though see what I'm saying like when you go in there and you get them a commercial account as soon they do that they sell so yeah that's that why I said I don't understand like what they I mean do you have the credit card still on you my man cause that's where all the money is going back to is that one of your cards I have on your possession yeah cause you make uh returns on your card on them two persons there right I mean what two persons right hmm it was two persons right two persons what it was two persons right they talking about right yeah that's what I'm saying OK listen that's what I'm saying when I get in the name I never told them to put anything you know what I'm saying so you're telling me that these kind of folks let you use someone else's information to buy stuff no what I'm telling you is listen what I'm telling you is see OK look see how I come in there and I purchase something I give them the number I thought I bought my shit you know what I'm saying if they added how they did it okay then then your credit card information will be present on this charge but it's not that's what I'm saying so you're telling me that they willingly just charge stuff on somebody else's account in your behalf what I'm saying is when I purchased that I just gave them the phone number you get what I'm saying okay so you impersonated somebody that worked for the company no I never told them I own the company you have to do that with them all you do is give them the phone number they put in the discount you know what I'm saying you don't have to impersonate how can I impersonate the owner they gotta verify all that so you're telling me they're just doing shoddy work and because I'm telling you listen what I'm telling you go to the discount right and get him a phone number right and say okay well I'm gonna buy something with this phone number to get the discount and then if you do but but we're not talking about getting a discount here man we're talking about you give him a phone number and they charge somebody else for the stuff you're buying but how does they but I'm not telling them to do that that's the thing though I'm not telling them to do that I didn't tell him to do that yes baby I didn't tell him to do that well obviously you you should have said hey man you didn't charge my card so you're telling me that you spotted an issue that they were making but you didn't want to correct it so therefore you took advantage of it why I'm just asking man I I'm just trying to get that's what I'm that's what I'm saying right you cannot charge nobody account unless they do that I can't I can't tell them oh I'm I'm they gotta call and and verify right so whoever was in there must have made a mistake yeah I want X y Z right you still gotta call and verify that shit so you're saying so you're saying they failed to call these people before they charge these people they had to okay you get what I'm saying because listen what I'm saying is this right but but here's my my here's my issue with that explanation if you saw that they didn't charge you properly why didn't you correct them what do you mean it's so let me so let me put it like this wait wait here here let me explain what I mean let's say I went let's say I went to go eat somewhere right I give them my card but for some reason they accidentally charged the previous person's card because the card information was still on their system so they accidentally charged somebody else right and then they bring me back the receipt and I see on the receipt that the the numbers on the car don't match the numbers on the receipt I go hey you made a mistake you charged somebody else can you fix this for me why didn't you make that that that same I you know okay now thought process okay now now now the end of the case I come back to the same store where I bought it from uh huh why they didn't why did they didn't see that that's not my fault though that's not my fault yeah but why would you then go hey here's my card can you put all the money back on my card not on their account you have to you have to ask them that's their policy man you have to ask them what that's their policy man that's their policy man stop off here man we're just gonna hang out in back of my truck until somebody a lot smarter than me can come down here and figure everything out alright this is crazy I got you man watch your stuff watch your stuff watch your stuff I got you bro this shit is crazy right here bro this listen listen what I'm saying bro and I'm pretty sure that they should they should be telling you that perfect alright that's crazy man hang tight for me buddy Terry versus Ohio allows a brief detention on reasonable suspicion alone well below the probable cause required for an arrest that threshold was met before contact even began through a witnessed theft transaction records and a corporate fraud report Miranda versus Arizona applies once questioning becomes custodial meaning a reasonable person would no longer feel free to leave Berkemer versus Mccarty warns that a routine detention can cross into custody once restraint and duration increase Rhode Island versus Innis defines interrogation broadly covering any question likely to draw an incriminating response reading Miranda before that line was tested removed any later argument that the statements should be thrown out grand theft still requires proof of deception intent to permanently deprive and value above a statutory threshold not just a pattern of suspicion the lesson for law enforcement is timing Miranda given early protects a case that Miranda given late can unravel the lesson for anyone questioned after being read their rights is simpler silence cannot be used against person explanations can neither Protection decides guilt on its own both decide whether the process used to build the case can survive review later so when this case reaches a courtroom which will weigh more heavily the caution shown by the deputy or the words spoken by the suspect