So, looks like somebody set up a a fake police. And these people, unfortunately, fell victim to it. This This gentleman. He's stolen somebody else's identity by my account. Scammers tend to think that they're smarter than they are, in part because they make a living tricking people into handing their money over. However, their downfall is eventually caused by their overconfidence. It's usually just a matter of time before these dumb young scammers get caught. Get on the ground. On October 2nd, 2022, the cops were called to a Walmart after reports of trespassers. According to the store employee who reported things, this male-female duo had been previously trespassed from the shop, but they then came back to attempt to cash a fraudulent check. Unfortunately for them, the employees had been trained well and knew exactly what they were up to. Marlene. Marlene. Marlene. Get on the ground. I got nothing but trespassers. If I get her in the unit, you want me to trespass again? Yes. Then you'll charge her? Yes. I'll go on there, all This guy said financial total. What was that again? I figured cuz I was going to go run into the manager of my work right now. I found them. And they don't come in with like a huge bag, and then they stopped him, and they were like, "You You could just probably go in right now." And they were like out of breath. I don't know, sir, but the church she said Thank you. In here then, right? 35 lb ground beef. Yeah, thank you. Heavy tattoos on Anybody run in there, blonde, a couple? No. Thank you. Are they running across the street at 2:00 from me. Guilty or not, running from the cops does make it look as though you've got something to hide. However, while they do have a decent head start on this officer, he's not the only cop on the scene. Stop! I'm going to taze you. I'm going to taze you. And I got options all THE WAY AROUND. STOP! Get through there. They're running across behind there. They're running north down. Stop! Stop! Get down. I'll have the male detained you shortly. The male individual wearing all black with the red hat went towards the Sun Country near Griggs and Warner. Turn around. We're going to use the dog again, just so you know. Stop! Look over here. With the woman now secured, now it's time to catch the man. While there are the dogs the officer mentioned, there are also a bunch of other officers taking off after him. Even if he did get away, which is unlikely, it wouldn't be hard to track him down. I got him over here. Going west. Yes, totally we needed you now long enough. Hey, where's he at? What Wait right here. Wait right here. I think we all have eyes on him. They're going. He's going to be in the seated area. Walk over here. Keep walking. You shouldn't have ran in the first place. Yeah, he's smoking just walking around. Let's see how he ran when he got off the plane and they're trying to detain him. GET OVER HERE. GET OVER HERE. RELAX. THIS CASE is interesting because there's a lot more action and drama than we usually see on scam and fraud cases. It might be because scammers don't usually get the chance to run when they're caught. And instead of relying on their feet, they usually prefer to rely on their mouths and their brains. But these two are a different sort. Uh he's walking through the south court in the middle of the Get on the ground. Get on the ground right now. YOU CAN TASTE. GET ON THE FLOOR. GET ON THE GROUND. GET ON THE GROUND. GET ON THE GROUND. All right, then. I got this. I got this. 802, does anybody else need to answer that? Negative, notify the team. All right, I'm going to go. Whoever has him detained, can you walk backwards? He's supposed to have a bag on it on him. I don't know if he's got it with him or not. He's walking through this parking garage. I saw him throw it in the dumpster. At the Don Edwards. I'm going to step on it central 55 with unit 120 here at 151 at the long run. She decided to take off. I'm sorry? Off 90. Off 90? Do you know his social? No. How old is he? 32? She decided to take off running from us. She just collapsed trying to catch her breath. She didn't collapse collapse. She just Really you can just do it. Yeah, we'll check on her. We'll go check on her. With both suspects now in custody, the cops ensure that they both get checked by medical staff before they're questioned. Scam cases and fraud cases can be very complicated, so the cops know that the hard work is just beginning. They still need to figure out exactly what happened including how much the two scammers tried to steal before charging them. You need to get up and we're going to walk up to this car, okay? Do you have anything on you that I may have missed? You know if you go over any contraband or any weapons the attempt to sit out the felony, correct? Uh not with those right now. Take a seat. Oh, can you turn the air off? Do what? Yeah, right now. Just take a seat. All right, we'll put your belt on. Hey Silva. I think it was white. I want to say it was white. Okay. Can I do You're not listening to commands. What do you mean? What are you doing? Why are you not listening to commands? Because you know all my belongings Dude, check his [ __ ] ass. Just like Give it to me in English. You listen to you. I'm not listening to commands. I'll take 5505 data for both locations. That's I am at 151 South Lana. What's your name? Right next to your apartment now building B. This What's your name? Are you going to get up? Are you going to come up? What's your name? Damn. You Come on. Ready? The female suspect seems to be cooperative, but the male here is not making things easy. Then again, they're already charges for resisting arrest, so it's not as though he has anything to lose by ignoring the officer's commands. Meanwhile, as one group of officers process the arrests, others are searching through the bags they dropped. We don't know if she stopped looking at Now these look new, so Yeah. There you go. I know that. 737 is setting up at 10. Going to borrow a stool cat. You want We have units blocking off Ironwood and Now that the officers have found the fraudulent checks they were trying to cash, not to mention their meth kit, it's time to move things forward and charge the suspects. Looks like these two addicts clearly needed the money to feed their addictions. The cops then talked to the woman whose checks they stole and explained to her what happened. There's a thing called informed delivery. So, you sign up for it and then you put your address in and then the post office emails you a snapshot of the mail you're getting. Oh, cool. All right. And so, um, she's known to do that. And so, she'll wait out there for the delivery and then go and take them out of the mail. Was this the first time? Yeah. And so, identity theft is weird in the state. And and now she had used your date of birth and anything else besides just your name and uh address, I could get her for the actual identity theft, but you have to use like a personal identification number like your social or your driver's license or something like that. You need to If they charge her with identity theft, too? No, this is forgery. This is a forgery issue transfer. As the cop explained, this couple was lucky to be only charged with fraud instead of being charged with identity theft. In In only reason they weren't was due to a quirk in the state's laws and statutes. Still, these two perps, later identified as Rocky and Arlene, were charged with resisting arrest, contempt of court, and fraud between $250 and $500. On August 5th, 2024, the cops were called out to a Kay Jewelers in response to a theft in progress. When they arrived on scene, the manager told them the suspects were still in the store, but this case is way more complicated than it first appeared. Aware that something just wasn't adding up, the police began a formal investigation. Don't move. Get out. Get out on the ground. So far it's sounding like a classic case of fraud. That being said, you've got to be particularly dumb to try and commit fraud like this with some photo ID with another person's photograph on it. It's also pretty dumb to run from the cops when you know they've got tasers, especially if you run like this guy did towards what looks to be a dead end. Put your hands behind your back. 292 or 291, what's your number? Put your palms together like you're praying. 1712 10-4. Sit up. We will, huh? I just wanted to have some fun with you, huh? Why did you run? Huh? You tell me what you want to do right now. anything. Why did you run? Huh? I don't know. Okay, we don't know either. Y'all was scaring me, bro. All right. We'll figure it out. Like I said, we'll figure it out eventually. I don't advise you to run cuz it wasn't good for him, and it won't be good for you. You can't say that. Come on. Please don't take me to jail or anything. One of the consequences of being busted in a busy shopping mall is that when the cops walk you to their car, you've got to walk past a bunch of people who are all turning to stare at you. Unfortunately, most criminals don't get embarrassed by that sort of thing because otherwise, they wouldn't commit crimes in the first place. I need your legal parent. Are you Is your Is your dad? Um Is it your dad or your mom? My legal guardian is my grandmother, but I don't live with her. I live with my stepmother. It's my dad's. So, your your mom nor your dad have legal guardianship over you? It's your grandma? Yeah. And what's your grandma's name? What's your phone number, Myra? I don't know. You gave me a cell phone. It's someone else's. Whose phone is it? That is my phone, actually. All right. It's in your best interest. I'm just telling you not to lie to us. I'm not. It is my phone. Uh but first you said you don't have one. So, that's a lie, My mind is a little uh Okay, what's your phone number? Um I don't have a SIM card. The cops are asking about this girl's parents because they just found out she's only 16 years old. The guy she was with was in his mid-20s, and that's also pretty concerning. The cops here are clearly worried about the girl's welfare, but without contact details for her family members, there's only so much that they can do. Officer Nickolite? Yes, sir. I'm Lieutenant Basante, okay? Anytime we have a use of force, I have to come interview you and document any injuries. Do you have any injuries other than uh other than the taser prongs that I need And how did that one happen? Well, after being tased. Oh, yeah. Okay. And do you have any idea where the taser prongs hit you approximately or Yeah, in my back. Oh, both in your back. Okay. And no other injuries that I need to document? Okay, and anything else that's uh you wish to uh state right now or just you were just running and uh officer tased you in the back and you fell down. Yeah, I don't really remember what happened. Okay. All right, sir. Thank you. Aside from being a sticky-fingered thief, the guy appears to have been leading her astray and introducing the girl to a life of crime. Setting that aside, the cops still need to make sure the male suspect's okay since he took a heck of a spill and got tased. Did the girl steal it out at all? No, she didn't do anything. No. Did she ask you any questions? No. Okay. Um All right, so Did they say what they wanted to buy? What What? There was three rings there. There's three of them they looked at. But which ring did they want to buy? There was between three and half seconds to where the rings fell off. It was like just describe the rings. Men's It was men's diamond rings? Do you know about Do you Do you know about the approximate value? Um one was 10,000, one was 5,000, and one was 4,800. 5,500 and 4,800 and they were going to be He was trying to buy one. Yes, they were deciding which one. Was she helping him decide? The lady? Yeah. No. No, she was just there. All right. And You said that as soon as they walked in, you recognized them right away? had because I had dealt with them back in May. Okay, did did did he show you any ID? Yes, no, today. Yes, yes. Do you remember the name? Terrence Black. I actually have a picture of it from last time he did this. At this point, the officers then spent some time talking to the store's employees. It appears the suspects asked to look at high-value men's rings and tried to carry out their fraud from there. It looks like they were trying to use their fraudulent check to buy the highest value ring they could find so they could later sell it for cash. Right. When he gave you the ID, what was it in with the intention of? To um start a credit app. For? For an application for a K card. Mhm. For a credit card. Okay, and what was he planning to Was he planning whatever he got approved for, was going to be one of the rings that he picked out. Okay. Okay. Have you ever seen him or her before? Yes, they came in about in May sometime. Mhm. And they filled out an application then also. Okay, and what happened with that? The manager stopped it. Well, they filled it out and um I think he got approved, but he went out to go get a different license. And then I think he tore something off the license when she came back in so she didn't approve it. Both of them were taken to the station for further questioning. The cops here were particularly keen to hear from the young woman, but she wasn't too receptive at first. The cops wanted to gather more information about their crime and also understand the relationship between the two of them. So, I'm doing you a solid, right? And not writing charges. You ran from us, okay? That is a charge in of itself, right? So, you can go you could be going to juvie right now for that, right? And then you're with an adult or a guy that second time is trying to commit a crime. Whether you know or don't know With you? With you and you're So, you could also be charged with an accomplice to a felony, okay? That's not happening here today. So, I'm going to ask you some questions and I just need you to answer my questions, okay? like the black mirror? No, we're not tricking you. I'm not tricking you. I'm trying to do you a solid. I know, but is your solid only if I answer these questions? No, you're still going with him. you questions about your safety is what we're going to do. We're not asking you any questions. on video from the last time in May at Kay Jewelers, okay? Why is he with me? You sure? Uh Yeah, this is from May when you when he did the same thing at Kay Jewelers, okay? This right here is yet another reminder the cops are about way more than simply busting bad guys. They're also like social workers. They can now refer the young woman's case to specialists who can better care for if needed. Officers already questioned my uh father. About this, yeah. And they um asked if you want to press charges. His answer was no. Against who? He also has to discuss with you, me, too. Press charges against who? The guy here today? For for what? Well, there was another incident and um I was with him and the cops just Well, I was taken to the station and brought in. Okay. And like my dad was with me. Okay. And that's all. Was the charges against you the battery charges against you? Against your dad? No. Who did he batter? What? He said battery. He's booked for some kind of assault battery. Oh, no, that was a it was a situation. That's not my business to tell, so you can ask. Okay, then what are you talking about then? I'm just saying that was already asked of me. If he's having My dad this is all been asked before. Okay. I gave my answer is no. Okay, well that wasn't us. So, when we see you here with an older guy, and I just got off the phone with your mom, your stepmom, I have a stepmom? Yeah, I thought you couldn't get a hold of my stepmom. She couldn't come get you. She couldn't get you. Oh. You can tell this kind of lifestyle is still new to the girl because she accidentally revealed more to the cops than they knew. The cops are worried she's going to throw her life away for this man. Do I have to? Like, this is just like I don't know. Okay, but the fact that you're not going to Okay, you don't have to, right? She just read me my rights, do you not know? But that's fine. This is not This is separate. This is completely separate. I'm not asking you any even think you even understand what we're trying to get at. So, here's the thing. So, here's the thing. The fact that you don't want to answer the questions is going to raise a red flag, and I'm going to push this case yeah, all the way through. How did you meet? She asked. Um, we met from a I met him through a friend. I got to first know high school. A girlfriend? Yeah. If you want me to be honest No, no, no, it's fine. I was trying to buy weed. Okay, thank you. I asked this girl, I was like, "Do you have Do you know a plug?" Okay. And then it wasn't him, that was the plug. It was a different boy. Okay. That was driving and delivering. He happened to be in the car. This girl's so young that she's not yet entered the 11th grade. Yet, she was already into smoking weed. She told the cops she's homeschooled, so perhaps part of the reason she's attracted to the guy is that she's lived a sheltered life and sees this guy as exciting. So, is there anything going to be anything weird on your phone when we go through it? When you go through it? When the police go through it. Huh? Nudes, anything? You might want to be honest because we're going through it. Cuz it's not going Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We can get a search warrant. Even if stuff has been deleted, we're going to get it off. And again, it's because we're worried about you. You're not like a suspect in anything. I know. Like you understand don't have to be worried. There's nothing to be worried about. Like isn't the question is you should be asking my grandma if she wants to press charges on this man for whatever and whatnot. Well, I we weren't even talking about whatever and whatnot. The girl doesn't seem to realize that the cops are only concerned about her welfare. Yet she continued trying to defend herself. And she's also not pleased whatsoever when she learns the cops can go through her phone. This is actually not even my phone. So Okay. So then can you open it? It's not my phone. I'm on the classroom. It's not my phone. It's not under registered or anything. Are you Are you sure you want to go this route? Cuz if you don't, I'm calling the SBU detective. I'm canceling grandma from coming to get you. And we're going to have this phone dumped in a couple hours. I'm going through everything, not just your text from him to her. Every text Everything. I'm dumping the phone. Yeah, it is. You just sat and read my rights and said I don't have This is different. This You don't On that case you don't. Like That's annoying as Didn't you just open it? Yes, she did. This is your phone. Well, surprise, surprise. It turns out the girl was lying and that it was her phone. She also claims that she and the man are just friends and that she does have a boyfriend who's under 18. She was later released into her grandmother's custody. You're very young. And I'm telling you if you If you're honest, even if you don't want to answer the questions, right? If you're honest, it goes a long way. As soon as you lie to me the first time, I could have had this thing go completely sideways for you, okay? Because nothing else you say we're going to believe, right? And when you have attitude with us we didn't just come and say we didn't just pick you and come out and say hi, we're here just to mess up your day, okay? We were called to something that was criminal, okay? So for you to catch an attitude, it will never go in your favor. I'm just going to tell you that. The girl's partner in crime, Jeremiah Mickelwhite, later pled guilty to multiple charges, including resisting an officer without violence, burglary of a structure, grand theft, unauthorized possession of an ID card, and fraudulent use of personal identification. He was given 36 months probation. On April 12th, 2024, the cops in Florida responded to reports of an ongoing burglary at a vacant rental property. Police responded quickly, creating an emergency channel to prioritize the investigation and dispatching a number of officers to try and catch the burglars in the act. That's our property. This home is supposed to be vacant. So, we just need them ejected out of the home and have them trespassed, arrested, whatever we need to do. What I'm going to have you do is I'm going to move your truck down over to where that blue vehicle is, so you're out of the way of everything we need to do. All right? Yep. All right, the victim's willing to press charges. You just wave me. Yep, I got you. All right, you ready? Come up. Police! Come out. Put your hands I'm out. Now, everybody out. Step out, now! The alleged suspects seemed pretty surprised. They must not have been expecting a half-dozen armed police officers surrounding the property. As they exited the house, one by one, they all looked clueless as to what was happening. Could their confusion just be a tactic? Let's go! Step out! Keep walking. Follow the sirens. Keep walking. Step out. Step out. Can you Can Can you Step out, now! Handcuff her. Woah! Get up. Can we not talk? Get up. No. I live here. Is there anybody else in there? Give me a second. Come on. Come on. Come on. Step out. Hands in the air. Walk this way. Is anybody else in there? Step out. Step out. Come on. What's going on? Everything will be explained later. Line up, please. We have a silent self-removal. Come on. Come on. What's going on? We've got extra set of cuffs. Come on. Put this hand on top of your head. Can we talk? We going to talk now. Just give me a minute. We're going to talk now, please. Can you give me a minute? Calm down. We're going to talk. I'm just saying my girl got a lease. Come on. All right. Take him. They're coming in. For a moment there, this house was like one of those clown cars where people just kept on coming out of it when it seemed as though there couldn't possibly be anyone else inside. And despite having a bunch of armed police officers around them, the suspects seemed remarkably calm and composed. Where is your side of the house? We freaking paid for it Monday. 4,800. You have a seat right here. I have a whole lease inside. Our lease is right there on the thing. Come on. The lease is inside the house? Yes. We paid 4,800 Monday. A guy came today. He opened He freaking did the code. So, there's a lease inside the house? I got it. Was that a lease? It was a lease. Interesting. They signed it yesterday. Yeah. I have a lease. I paid money. And like I did everything I was supposed to do correct. Okay. All right. So, listen. We're going to figure it out. All right? You've got the lease there. We're going to try to solve this criminal case, cleared, Work with me, work with us, and you'll be fine. Sorry, you can come on down. No. We want one of those key things. So, we got scammed. The discovery of the rental contract adds an interesting new dimension, turning a squatting case into a fraud case. The only question is, who exactly got scammed? Now, we're wondering if these people paid their money in good faith to someone who gave them a completely fake lease. Or is it possible that that $4,800 they mentioned was simply a lie? So, it looks like somebody set up a a fake uh lease. And these people, unfortunately, fell victim to it. That lady got a code at 4:00 in the morning to get into this home. 4:00 in the morning? At 4:00 in the morning, and they tried several times to open the door. We literally haven't been here for like 5 hours. Literally, we just moved in. Lease never We signed lease and did everything. I ain't do I don't know. I ain't do nothing wrong. Fake lease. Mhm. Um they're leaving regardless of what happens. And just going to find out who they are and what their involvement is. yesterday. Yeah. And they just had people in here on the 9th. So, this is a super quick turnaround. All right, ma'am. I got to read you something, okay? You have the right to remain silent. Do you understand? So, we got a call. Somebody was breaking into his house. We don't know nothing about To that point, that's what we know. So, that's what we It's a lot of us here cuz that's what we get. All right? This is shaping up to be a complicated case, and we have to bear in mind that the officers who responded to the call were expecting to find either squatters or burglars. Now, all of a sudden, they have to figure out a fraud case. How did you gain access to the home? I had a code. We had someone text us the code. And we had given them $4,800 for the Somebody text you the access code? Yeah, they first uh texted me But I cuz I don't have a service phone right now. Mhm. Uh so I just said him to text me the number and he gave me the code for it and he came in. And he said we were good to go in business with these papers. Okay. So you you're the one who signed these? Yes. Okay. So what would you say if we had evidence that shows that you accessed their system to gain a code at least four times? What would you say about that? Yes, we did do that because we kept on getting locked out from the code. So we asked him and they said go through the application forms to get the code. Who said that? Uh I think his name was like uh started with a B. It's like an Indian accent guy. We never met him. Okay. Do you have proof that you sent this guy money? It was through cash. It was through cash. There's something not quite right with the woman's story. If she paid the man cash in person, she should be able to give a better description. And if the money was transferred in a different fashion, there should at least be some sort of paper trail. And where did you give this person cash at? Uh we found them on Facebook, I'm pretty sure. And he gave us the mail, like the mail address, and we sent it to us. So you mailed a stranger cash that you've never met. This house still and that you couldn't get access to a home. They had done by company. How did the What happened to the original door handle and all that stuff? Where that go? I don't know. When did you start moving in? I started moving in about 2 days ago. How long? Three? Two. Two? Yes. So at least it was signed yesterday. How did you move in 2 days ago? Don't you think that's suspicious? Says right there. Yes. 4/11. Today's the 12th. And you moved in the day before you started to sign your lease. That seems suspicious to me. And start moving in and we'll sign the lease later. I was like, "Okay, that good." Did my Pizza Hut come? She's going to pull up here. You ordered a pizza? Yeah, Pizza Hut. All right, he's going to pull up here. How many you order? How many pies? I ordered a dinner box. A dinner box? Like this. How many are there? 1 2 That's enough for us. That's enough for us. Hell no. It seems like this girl doesn't find anything suspicious. Somebody could rob a bank in front of her and she still wouldn't suspect a thing. Her roommates apparently didn't find anything suspicious either because they even ordered pizza. How did you pay this guy? In person. How? Cash. That's very strange. You know why that's You know why that's strange? Here's the problem with Y. You got three different people. So, your girlfriend said that she mailed the money to the guy and has never met him. Why is her story completely different from yours? It's literally Don't ever lie. Came in person. Oh, did you? We met him today. Came along. We moved in today. We were here only for 5 hours before y'all came. So, how did you find this house? I just told you. Facebook Marketplace, Zillow. Zillow? Zillow, Facebook Marketplace. Okay. You know those are two different companies, right? That's where the Marketplace They had it on Marketplace. The link sent to Zillow. What does the guy look like? Huh? What did the guy look like? Who is this guy? Who is it? Talking about over there. You know who y'all are, though. Who? Not us. Guy in the green shirt. The guy in the green shirt? He look Spanish. Same color, same complexion. Looks like him, but a little skinnier, younger. Okay. So, you're going to stick by your story that the guy came and unlocked today. Yes. He came today. Yes. And unlocked the door. Yes. When the cops first arrived, it was somewhat believable that these people were just victims. However, now that the cops have questioned them, they found a few inconsistencies in their stories. You'd think they would have spent more time getting their story straight and less time ordering pizza. Listen, Your story is full of sh- That's all I'm going to say, all right? It's not adding up. The lease is fake, though. The lease is Are you kidding me? I can go online right now and print that out and give you a lease right now. Do that. I don't need to do that. I'm just saying that that means nothing to me. Exactly. Where did the cash come from? I don't know. Ours. Who's ours? Me and my girlfriend. Okay. Where did it come from? From my You are lying. You had it the whole time. Where do you want to go? Again, she told us that you got it from her parents. So, you got any more lies? She's a More lies? She's a 20-year-old woman. Where do you want to like And she's scared of There's no reason to lie to us. She's scared of every one of y'all Oh, that's it. pointing guns at her. The problem with this guy's story is that his girlfriend didn't seem nervous at all. Case in point, it seemed borderline sociopathic how she was able to tell barefaced lies to these armed police officers without even a hint of nervousness. If anyone seems uncomfortable, it's this guy. And it also raises the question of just who the true mastermind was behind this whole scam. This is your last opportunity to come come clean. Your boyfriend completely different story. Not one thing that you said that you told us matches. Not one thing. Not lying to you at all. He came up with a completely different story on how you guys have came to be in this house. So, and he says that you're not lying, but he's not lying. And obviously, that doesn't work, right? Yeah, that doesn't make sense. So, how did you pay? So, he said you don't have to pay until the 16th because I don't get paid till the 16th. So, you haven't paid any? No, not yet. Not information, phone number. And then he texted me off the the phone number. It's suspicious to me because it doesn't work like that. You can't just put homes on Zillow and then put like fake numbers. Like it's gets put in by the company or the realtor. So I know this because I'm also a realtor. You can't just do this. It's impossible. It's lucky for the cops and unlucky for the suspects that this guy happens to have experience in real estate. His experience helped him to spot that something was wrong with the suspect's stories. You're being placed under arrest. Okay? Do you understand? I don't believe anything you're saying. You've already lied once. Now you're lying again. Okay? And you're not even out any money on so I would just let people stay without paying, especially renting. That's like guaranteed you pay first month's last month's rent. So I don't believe a word you're saying. I think that you tried to get in here fraudulently and I don't think it's your first rodeo and it is what it is. Actions have consequences. So Let's put it this way. Do you have anything on you that's going to poke us or stick us? I have a grenade in my pocket. Okay. When we get over here we'll deal with that. Both the man and the woman were charged with scheme to defraud and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling. The man was also arrested for a probation violation due to a previous burglary charge. And just FYI, he never got to eat that pizza he ordered. On July 21st, 2023, the cops were called to a Best Western hotel after a fraudulent transaction was reported. According to the victim of the fraud, the night before, the man's Cash App had been fraudulently charged for $307. Now the responding officers had to find out exactly how that happened. All right, so what's going on? So I lost my wallet 2 days ago at McDonald's and then Okay. Well, she took my ID, debit card Cash App card, my bank account information, routing information, check all of that. I got a Cash App notification saying $307 was year. Okay. I came here, told them about it. They said they had problems for the last time. Uh-huh. I guess she was the one who did use my card here in the store. I'm just trying to get all my stuff back straight and I uh I got you. So, you lost it at at McDonald's 2 days ago. 2 days ago. Someone Okay. Did you report it when you lost it? Well, I uh I turned my card off and some dude on Facebook texted me the next morning saying that he found my wallet. Okay. And so I I got off work and he brought me at Walmart. And when I got it, I had everything missing out of it except for my social security. It sounds as though the man did the right thing by canceling his Cash App card. With a bit of luck, he'll be reimbursed by the company and he won't find himself out of pocket, although it might take some time. In the meantime, all he can do now is hope the cops track down just who's behind the scam. If you get that reimbursement back, technically, you're not out of any money. Right. Yeah. So, well, I still may be able to I got to talk with them and figure out, but she probably I mean, obviously, she used your card without your knowledge and attempted to purchase the route. So, she's definitely going to get something. So, not entirely sure yet. Let me um let me get your card real quick so I you can get out of here and do what you got to do. So, just give me 1 sec, okay? This girl's been up in our butt the last week or so, so. She wants to get paid tomorrow and for the last 24 hours. She called and cussed me out, told me I was And I was like, Well, that's great. Fortunately for the officer, the receptionist are more than happy to tell him everything he needs to know about the girl who took the guy's card. In this case, the suspect hasn't done herself any favors by insulting the staff because her insults just made them remember even better. So, what exactly happened this this with her? She came in to in. Get her room key. Whatever. Um I was talking to my night auditor. She was up there. It was very strange. Um I guess she tried to run the card and a card and it declined. Then she tried to run his card and it declined. And my night auditor came and checked the names and she showed up cuz we use that thing up there. But then she has this box. So how do you know that um it was her or or his card? How do you Cuz it's got his name on it. It's got his name and all his information on it. Okay. So this was sitting out here with room keys in it. She then, you can see it on camera, pulls in here and pulls one of these out. And it's like that. It's got the room number on it. And she goes in the room. That's where we found her this morning. You know what I mean? What room was it? 109. 109. Okay. Um And I got it on camera. Do you want to pursue charges for theft of services? I don't know. that's what she was supposed to pay for that. What's he I don't know if he thinks it's worth it, but I don't know. Okay. I can ask him. yeah, if you don't mind finding out for me. Um if you want to do that. If not Cuz I'm sure he is. Yeah. The receptionist makes a good point. The woman who committed the fraud is going to face charges either way. So it's up to the hotel manager whether to slap her with a second set. With that said, it's a Best Western and many hotel chains like these have policies in which they always press charges. Now I hope you got clothes on. I have more towels. Button yourself up, please. Yeah, I am buttoning up my clothes. Okay. Well, they want to talk to you alone. I'm going out to see tomorrow. Yeah, and they're going to arrest me and harass me. All right, I'm ready to I mean what is this? Me on my porch in front of the neighbors and came up. You're ready to I lied. Just say that. Because y'all harassed me all the time. Listen, I'm just talking to you. You know what? I've seen another white man face my people, man. Jamie, listen. So what happened this morning at the Best Western? Did they Did they threaten you at all? What did you do? You paid for it? Yes. Okay. And they kicked you out for no reason? Okay. How did you How did I what? Careful. I'm sorry. Do you mind just blowing the smoke in that direction? You can You can sit down. Just I don't want it blowing in my face, please. She's the kind of perpetrator we see again and again in cases like these. She's already showing a racist attitude towards the cop, but the irony is she hates white people despite having a white parent. She also keeps laughing to herself as though all of this is just a big joke. So, how did you pay for the room? With a debit card. Okay. Whose debit card was it? Mine. What? Your debit card? Okay. Do you have like a bank statement or anything showing that you paid for it? Did you try to pay for it with anyone else's card? Mhm. No? That's the confirmation number, but that that doesn't say what card It doesn't show what card it Okay. So, what do you Can you show me what card you paid with? Do you have the card with you? This girl has the kind of attitude that only about when you've never been told no in your life. She also doesn't seem too interested in what the officer's saying to her or the case he's investigating. Either she has no idea how much trouble she's in or she just doesn't care. There's a card, a black card on the bottom over there. a different card. Whose card is that? No, it's mine and my boyfriend's. We have the same card. Okay. You mind if I see it? Sure. You doing that very first second to my job at the strip club. You can call him and ask him. Okay. And That's your boyfriend? Well, he was. Not anymore, but we still talk sometimes. What's his name? Zack. What's his last name? I don't know. McGuire or something. Okay. You know what his birthday is? I forgot. We don't We don't really haven't talked in a little bit, but I mean, I still talk to his friend, London Smith. They're in jail together and stuff. Well, we shouldn't judge people too much, but it's pretty problematic that the stripper has an ex-boyfriend that she doesn't know the last name of. And on top of that, she stays in contact with her ex-boyfriend and his friend, and they've both been in jail. Based on those alone, it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to think that she might have committed credit card fraud. Did you try and pay for the hotel room with this card yesterday? No. No? I have PayPal with that. I have PayPal with mine. With your card? on Chase sitting in the mail right now. I don't need anyone else's. Okay. save that. Okay. 100% you didn't use this yesterday? Okay. So, we're going to go ahead and have you stand up for me real quick. So, stand up. Yeah. Just stand up. Okay. If I get arrested, then what would it be? I didn't do nothing. They're the ones that keep me up. Stand up. Stand up. There's one. Why? That don't make no sense. Yeah. Where you dropped your phone? Let me set your phone down. That don't make sense. Let me set your phone down for you. That don't make no sense. Does up. What did I do? He'll explain it to you as soon as you get some cuffs on. You got to even read me my rights, sir. You don't need them yet. Yes, I do. You're supposed to do that before you even touch me. I know the law. No. There's people watching out right now, too, on that camera on my side. We all have cameras. Yes, we do. But yours isn't even on. Yes, it is. The red light. You're being placed under arrest. For what? Grand theft. I'd rather I'd rather go to jail. You're being placed under arrest. Okay. For fraudulently using his card to try and purchase items. I did not do that. I already talked to the hotel. He gave it to me. He gave me the permission. And the card to the clerk on the table. Okay. Along with stealing a bunch of stuff on the counter. What? I didn't steal anything on the counter. I saw you do it all. Okay? And then you stole cards, the room keys out of that box. And that's how you got into the room. Okay? So, I saw all that. I even have the confirmation number, too. Jamie still thinks she can control the situation, even though the cops just revealed how much evidence they have against her. She also seems to think that continuing to accuse the cops of being racist is going to somehow help her out. If she can really prove her innocence, like she says she can, this will all come out in court. You're racist, man. Okay. You're racist, man. Crossing. So, everything Absolutely not. Why? Am I going to and sell it? Can you tell them I'm leaving? No. Just relax. I will tell them. Just relax. Don't get Don't step in the car yet. Just stand right there. Don't Did you spit in my car? I didn't spit right there, man. All right. Stay there. I did it. Is that Is that what you say every time you do something wrong, call people racist? You are racist. Okay. Also Also what? How am I racist? So, so that's not racist? No, it's not. Why is that? So, what I did was racist, but what you just said wasn't racist? No, it's not. Okay, I think you're living in a fairy land, fairy tale land. You act like you know where your best friend is and you know the reason. Um You want to arrange it? Go and have a seat in there, please. Why? Can you take these off? Absolutely not. Go ahead and have a seat. Her behavior is atrocious. It doesn't really matter whether she spat on the ground or whether she spat in the car, because both are disrespectful and gross. It seems as though her father's well aware of her bad behavior, which is further evidence she has a track record for this kind of stuff. So, we're going to come back to get whatever she requests to bring with her, but she is going to jail. Okay. Uh the charge is fraudulent use of another person's credit card Okay. or debit card. Or mobile? No, it's actually another another individual. She According to the victim, he lost his card somewhere around McDonald's a couple days ago. What's the charge He's this I I he has to look at the amount, but I I'm pretty sure it was about a thousand dollars, so it's most likely going to be felonious. Okay. Um I'm not sure if because the success of her using it was obviously not accomplished True. if it bumps it down to a misdemeanor, I don't know. I didn't read the statute. I'm just assisting in his investigation, so he's uh he'll he'll explain it a little bit more in depth, but that's the that's the gist of it. Okay. So, right now I don't have to deal with this other issue we were talking about the other day. I mean, she she is going to get a bond tonight, so she can potentially bond out. And you're not going to be doing it. Jamie was ultimately charged with the fraudulent use of a credit card. With her dad refusing to bail her out or provide her with a place to live anymore, it looks like she's got bigger problems than the charges she's facing. Let's just hope this little incident has taught her a lesson. On July 31st, 2024, cops were called out to a 7-Eleven because an employee committed theft that wasn't merely just pocketing a few candy bars. According to the manager, the employee had been manipulating the cash register to process fake returns and keep the money, amounting to thousands of dollars in fraud. So, she did that for 2 weeks in total. It's $1,900. She's on the register right now. I've got another manager in there who spoke to corporate in the office so she doesn't get spooked and try to bolt. Um but she's in there right now still $1,900 in total. So, do you have the We've got the CCTV footage. We've got receipts that she's rung out. She did it on another associate's numbers but it can match to the cameras and see that it's her. She's doing another associate's numbers, yeah. Signing it. So, it's under somebody else's name but you match the timestamps with the camera on the camera and it's her. See it. And this has been since She started uh the 23rd of July. And then her last one was the 29th of July. Okay. And that one was $600. Okay. And she brings it up as a donation to the Children's Miracle Network. So, it's $600? Yeah. And not in Like at a time or Well, in multiple $100 at a time. It sounds as though the store's already done most of the investigative work. Although it also doesn't sound like a particularly sophisticated scam. Also, it sucks for her co-workers that she was processing the fake refunds under their store IDs because that means she was willing to throw them under the bus for a quick buck. anyone talked to her about it? So, no one's asked her So, she was hired She was hired at the beginning of the month of July. I think it was the 12th. That was her first day at least. Thanks. But I can pull that information I get her I-9 stuff. Okay. She started stealing the 23rd was the first day. And then it was every day she worked up until the 29th. Hey Cartagia, just turn around and put your hands behind your back for me. So, you're being placed under arrest right now for fraud. I know you got a lot of questions. Everything's going to be explained to you, okay? Okay. Put your palms together. Like you're praying. There are lots of signs that could determine whether someone's innocent or guilty, and the cops have to presume a suspect's innocent until proven guilty. In this case, the fact that the suspect accepted the arrest without ever asking what it was for is a pretty good sign that she's guilty. Have you ever been read your rights before? Yes. Okay. So, you've been arrested before or no? What were you arrested for? Um my previous charges um of What was it? Fraud It was fraudulent stuff. It I can't tell you the exact charge, but I know it was fraud-related? Yes. Okay. All right. How long ago was that? Um about two to three months, I want to say. Two to three months? And I think that you make with that computer, like even if you hit the wrong button or anything, it sets it off. And it took a manager to tell me that because she showed me one time where um How can I put it? Okay, like you scan it or I don't I don't know how to explain it. It's just If you put in the wrong amount and you try to change it, you have to refund it in order for it to go back in the system. It's It's confusing to explain, but Okay. it's just like any mistake throws it off. It seems the suspect didn't learn her lesson even after she was arrested for fraud just a few months prior. And while it's true that computers can be vulnerable to errors, it also seems impossible that it happened repeatedly reaching a thousand dollars and that it only happened to one employee. Are you going through like just hard times right now at home or something like that? Not really. I mean, of course bills, but Yeah. Everybody's got care of three kids, but that's really it. Okay. So, what was brought up um reference to these donations is I guess there's a barcode that needs to be scanned. Um and management was able to review cameras and stuff. So, uh but they got you scanning the barcodes um and then essentially later pocketing the cash. Pocketing? The cash out of the register. When did I pocket? I'm sorry? When did I pocket those? I just apparently there was several incidents. Um so, that's that's what they brought up to us to our attention. This is why we're here right now. The video footage is the smoking gun. She can argue about the computer system till she's blue in the face, but the security cameras tell the truth better than her. The cop who's doing the interrogating does a great job of providing a sympathetic ear while at the same time encouraging her to be honest. you to just be honest. So, that way we can figure out what's going on and if there's some assistance or anything like that that you know, programs that can be offered like let's let's figure out what's out there that we can go with. I mean, because thing is cuz I ain't never been here. Yeah. Like my first time being arrested, they took me straight down to what was it? Marion County Jail. So, like am I under arrest? Well, right now there's obviously an investigation going on. here. So, based off the investigation it's kind of pointing toward you. So, I would like to talk to you. I mean and get an understanding of what's going on. That's That's why you're here right now. Yes. I mean, cuz me just taking you to jail, what what are we achieving out of that? Yeah. I mean, no one gets to hear your story and this is This is your chance to come out and say, "All right, look. If you made a mistake I mean, I get that. You know, just let me know. But, if you choose not to talk and you just want to go the route like nothing happened, but everything else is showing otherwise then, you know, the judge you go to trial, jury's going to see all that. This is some top-tier detective work because he's giving her a chance to open up and be honest and save both of them the headache. All she has to do is tell the truth, but sometimes it's easier said than done. It seems as though in this case she'd rather keep pretending even though she knows that it's not going to end well for her. Can you explain why your drawers are always short? I prob- probably the way I rang stuff. I mean, cuz like I say, I'm fairly new. So, probably the way I rung it in cuz now they got it where you have to have manager approval to do refunds and all that stuff. So, that's what I'm trying to understand. This is why I'm here, too. I'm try- I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Yeah. So, I mean, yeah, I go through stuff. getting from manager, you know what I mean? And I've seen this video. So, it's it's like that's showing one thing and then you're saying another thing. So, you see how it's like it's just not matching up. Yeah. So, that's that's the confusion and that's what we're trying to figure out. Well, I know I don't have no money. Okay. I If I But, I don't have any money. Okay. All right. All right, give me a second and I'll be right with you, okay? After the interrogation was over, the suspect was charged with organized fraud and grand theft. She was sentenced to 24 months probation, 300 hours of community service, and 6 months wearing an ankle monitor. She was also ordered to pay restitution of $200 per month. On the 9th of January 2023, police were dispatched to a Nissan dealership after getting reports of an identity theft case. According to the dealership, a young man had used a fake ID to purchase a vehicle valued at $67,000. After he left, the dealers realized their mistake, so they convinced the man to return to the dealership, telling him to return to get a second set of keys. Get out of the car. Come here. Get out of the car. This lock. Hello. Turn around, guy. Hands up. You got anything on you I need to know about? What's going on, man? What just happened? Huh? What just happened? 305. Well, we got a call, that's all. She's going to step out. Go ahead. She's going to step out on that end over there. I have a feeling she's going to run. Make him Get out of the car. Get out of the car, now. Stay right here for me. Stay right here for me. Stay right here for me. Yeah, 27-29 check, 411. No, no. Stay right here, man. Stay right here. You're moving around too much for I ain't What you got to do? You know what I'm saying? You're moving around too much for me. You're making me You're going in and out of the car, you know what I'm saying? So, just Okay, just relax right here. I ain't Have I put you in cuffs yet? This guy doesn't seem to understand that when the cops give you an instruction, you obey it. He also seems to be paying more attention to his phone than he is to the situation he's in. While he's not in handcuffs yet, that won't last for long. Is this your rental vehicle? This is uh through my company's doing. Your company's vehicle? No. Can I get my car? Can I get my car? Huh? I said, "Can I get them a car?" Who? My My question for you is how do you know him? He's a client. He's a client? Yeah. So, are you giving him This is a limousine, right? Cuz the tag is L. Mhm. So, he's kind of like a Uber situation? Basically. That's an Uber situation. So, basically like a Uber Uber, they pay us, we take them where they need to go, and I drop them off. You got it. I'm driving them off and getting paid. Okay. Sit right there for a moment. Hold on. Take my chain off my neck. You good? You good with the chain? You hit your head? You good? I'm good. What did they even have for? 319 1025. 25 1025. Good. 25 1025. I cracked the window for you. Hold on. Now that the cops have their suspect inside the car, they can start their investigation. For starters, he won't be able to keep moving around and putting the cops on edge, and that's a good thing because they've got a lot to sort out here. We got a call from the lender that we established a loan with. And he told us that the actual identity holder called in to verify that his identity was stolen. This gentleman. He stole somebody else's identity for a car. Okay. So, he bought a car? Yes. He bought the car through y'all? Correct. Okay. Here's the whole folder with the file. But, I can't give that to you, but we can talk about this and stuff, but I'm just I'm not taking anything. So, who's Who's identity did he steal? This one person. It's Kyle. Kyle? Is that the ID he gave you? No. So, we got a call saying that you came up here before with a fake ID and stole a vehicle from them. That's the call we got, all right? So, that's why we out here because they're stating that you've stolen a vehicle from them before, okay? If it's true this crook stole a vehicle from them before, that suggests that this latest theft is just the tip of the iceberg. It's a serious crime, and the only real question is whether to charge the man with felony theft, identity theft, or fraud. So, tell me what's going on. So, that the gentleman in the gray sweatpants and sweatshirt Uh-huh. representing himself as Kyle, which is an identity he stole to try to purchase a vehicle from our dealership. So, the Kyle Kyle guy called you guys and said that the lean holder after he hit his credit and validated that it's 100% a stolen identity, and he did not purchase a vehicle from us. Uh and this gentleman has a Audi S5 that we need to get back. Does um the individual that's saying his ID his identity was stolen, do you have a Does he have a police report out on it? Is he from Georgia I'm from New Jersey. New Jersey? This um is this the folder? Yes. You got the It's a New York state ID. Is that the ID he gave you? Yeah, it's a New York ID. It sounds like Kyle, the guy whose identity got stolen, is having a really tough day. As if having his ID card stolen wasn't bad enough, that same card's now been used to commit a crime. What a terrible way to start the new year. We've got a system where we run driver's licenses. It's called Fraud Fighter. And out of state licenses don't work perfectly, right? But it failed the Fraud Fighter. Okay. So, we asked a series of follow-up questions, um background questions, credit questions, and he was able to answer those. Um but it turns out that all he did was the guy's identity, get a fake driver's license, and is using it. So, who who knows how many cars he bought, you know? I don't know how many cars he bought in the last month. So, you don't know where that car is at now? No, that's why I need your help for him to talk. Can you go ahead and give me all that car information? The guy that I had back of my car detained came up to uh Nissan in December and purchased a vehicle from them, a Audi, with another gentleman's identification. So, it has another person's name and everything from New Jersey. And they're saying that this is the same guy, but when I look at this New Jersey ID and I look at his ID that he provided me Yeah, the New Jersey ID, this guy looks a lot heavier than this guy is. They just found out today was It's starting to seem like one of those cases where the charges won't be finalized until a more rigorous investigation's been carried out. While they know the suspect did it, it's going to take quite some time to comb through all the data and obtain all the proof. However, that's not going to stop them from making the arrest. This is you. That's you, bro. That's you. That says New Jersey, bro. Come on. All right, you're not going to talk talk your way out of this, bro. You got to call. You know what I'm saying? You got to call. That's the game, right? That's the game, right? You keep going until you get caught. You got caught. All right? Yeah, it's going to be in uh he's using uh New Jersey name, license of a different guy. This gentleman is black, the guy that actually has the New Jersey license is a white individual. Imagine being so young and dumb that you try to use an ID that shows someone who belongs to a different race. It's hardly a surprise that he got busted. The only real surprise here is that he got as far as he did with the scam. He could make his life a whole lot easier if he agreed to cooperate with the cops, but this guy just didn't seem to get the memo. We got cameras on every corner, every crevice, every door, every finance office, every hallway, the delivery bay. There's so many pictures of you in that car, leaving in that car, signing for that car, spending hours in our dealership, okay? What would help us is if you give me that car back. And maybe we can do is help you. It's not going to be like maybe they find out you were here. It's We've already got the pictures saved on hard drives. So, if you could help me, maybe I can help you. Where can we find that car? Cuz all you're going to do is drag out something that's really, really bad for yourself. And all I want is my I don't care who has it. I don't care where it is. I just want the car back. Cuz I don't want to get anybody else in trouble. I don't care. I just need the car back. So, where can I find the car? Where can I get the car? Huh? Can I have someone You have someone bring it to me? Would you like me to go pick it up? You can have someone bring it to me? Can I get it tonight? So, I can answer these officers. How How quick can we get Is it in New Jersey? Is there an address there that I could have my trucker go pick it up before you get taken off and we can't talk anymore? Is there somebody that I can help you with that I can talk to? All right. So, you don't You don't want to give me an address for the car. Okay. In the end, after refusing to give details about where the stolen car was, the suspect was taken to jail. He was booked on two felony charges, identity theft and theft by deception. These days, it seems like scammers are everywhere, and as a result, it's important for you to stay safe and learn how to identify people who are trying to take advantage of you. So, just remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Good luck out there.