Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeTuesday, May. 19, 2009
Craigslist thief buys Tri-City truck with bogus bills
By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer
A Kennewick man scammed out of a 1986 Ford flatbed truck last week said he was in a rush when a man arrived at his home to buy it.
Clark Warner said the man called him Wednesday, saying he was a farmer in Warden and wanted to buy the truck Warner had listed for sale on Craigslist.
The man pulled $1,900 in $100 bills out of a bank envelope and gave it to Warner. Warner had to leave for an appointment, so he took the cash, signed the title over and left.
Warner didn't realize the $100 bills were fake until he tried to use them to pay a carpet cleaner on Friday, he said.
The counterfeiters apparently went from Warner's home in Kennewick to a west Pasco home, where they gave Bruce Flippo $2,300 for some power tools and exercise equipment.
Flippo realized the $2,000 in cash was counterfeit and learned the $300 check he accepted from the guy claiming to be a 61-year-old Warden farmer was forged.
Flippo reported the scam to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office and shared his story with the Herald on Thursday to warn others.
Warner said he was in his garage welding on Wednesday when the scammer called him from a private phone number to ask about the truck.
"Then all of a sudden, he was just there," Warner said. "He said he was from out of town and his friends dropped him off. ... He came in, sat down and I signed my title over to him.
"I didn't realize (it was counterfeit money) until I tried to spend the money."
Warner said he wrote the suspect's name down on a receipt and looked him up in Warden when he realized the money was fake. That's when he learned the Warden man's identity had been stolen.
He then called Kennewick police and gave them the phony money. Officers have listed his truck as stolen.
"It's funny, that old red truck has been stolen twice now," Warner said.
About two years ago, someone stole the truck when it was parked at a fast food restaurant, but it was spotted about 15 minutes later and recovered.
Warner's hoping someone will notice his truck again and call police.
It's a red flatbed truck with Washington plates A16668U. The tabs expire next month, he said. There are turtle stickers on the door windows.
The truck used to have Warner's business name, Cedar Fence Co., on the side. Warner took the stickers off, but the name still is visible, he said.
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