Hendersonville Police make arrest in check cashing scheme
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The Hendersonville Police Department has made an arrest in a check cashing scheme that took advantage of a homeless person.
Hendersonville Police said their investigation into the scheme started Sept. 28, when they discovered a suspicious homeless person in the Glennbrook Shopping Center.
The homeless person, who was suffering from the aftereffects of a traumatic brain injury, had been taken to Hendersonville by two people, identified as 28-year-old Marquis Lashawn Watford, and Chelsie Lynn Walker, 29, of North Carolina, with the promise of work and payment. This is consistent with a criminal trend where criminals pick up someone in the homeless community and force them to cash fraudulent checks, police said in a media release.
Hendersonville Detectives were able to locate the subjects in Paducah, Kentucky with the help of the Paducah Police Department.
“Walker was taken into custody at the time for outstanding warrants not related to the incident in Hendersonville,” the media release said. “On September 30th, 2022, Hendersonville Detectives obtained warrants on both Watford and Walker for Human Trafficking, Kidnapping, Criminal Simulation, and Attempted Theft Over $1,000.”
With the help of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Walker’s vehicle was located and stopped on I-40 in Knoxville, where she was taken into custody.
Walker is currently being held in the Sumner County Jail on a $147,000 bond.
As of Friday, Watford is still at large but believed to be in the Fayetteville, North Carolina area.
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