Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is asking for the public’s help identifying an unknown suspect who pretended to be a government employee, but turned out to be nothing more than an impersonating thief.
Last Friday evening, June 17, a Hispanic male entered the Cash Ur Check, located at 1441 Ortiz Ave., Fort Myers. He identified himself to the clerk as a “government employee,” yet provided no name, badge or business card as proof.
The man stated that he was investigating a check fraud case and that he needed her immediate assistance in seeing all checks the store had taken in that week. Convinced that the “government employee” was authentic, the clerk allowed the man into the back office, where he asker her to retrieve a stack of checks.
After looking through the documents, he pulled one out and instructed the employee to provide a copy of the check and the customer’s driver license, to which she complied. After receiving the requested documents, the suspect left the store, still not leaving any form of identification or contact information.
A short time later, the store employee noticed that cash had been stolen from the store’s safe. After the store’s manager reviewed surveillance video, it was learned that the suspect removed money from the safe, and stuck it in his pocket, while the clerk was pre-occupied with retrieving the requested check documents.
The suspect is a Hispanic male, who wore an identification tag hanging from his belt with the letters FBI. He also had a holstered firearm on his hip and was wearing what appeared to be blue latex gloves during the encounter.
Anyone with information on the identity and whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477). All callers will remain anonymous and will be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000. Tips may also be made online at www.southwestfloridacrimestoppers.com or by texting a tip to CRIMES (274637) Keyword: REWARD.
