Hunter
07/12/23
A New Jersey man has been arrested for allegedly scamming an elderly Iowa City couple out of $26,000 in cash.
Police say the couple received a call June 6th from a person posing as their son. They claimed to have been arrested and in need of bond money. A second subject claiming to be their son’s attorney instructed them to secure $26,000 in cash in a shoebox and give it to a vehicle that would arrive at their home. After withdrawing the money, the 79-and 80-year olds gave the money to a woman in a black Ford Escape who was working for Uber.
The woman was interviewed by authorities, and she told them she was hired to courier the box to a gas station in Grinnell. There, she met with a subject, later identified as 26-year-old Johnn Tatis Mendez of Paterson New Jersey, who took the box from the woman. Tatis-Mendez and another unidentified subject reportedly arrived 45 minutes before in a white Lexus with New Jersey plates and parked in several spots while getting in and out of the vehicle and entering a Subway shop adjacent to the station.
Once the cash was secured, Tatis-Mendez and his alleged accomplice left within 2 minutes.
Police say the vehicle was spotted in Des Moines by reader cameras on June 9th and 10th. Authorities there said they took two reports, on June 8th and 9th, with similar scams bilking persons out of $36,500 and $9000. One of the victims described the vehicle that came to take their cash as a white SUV.
The registered owner of the Lexus was interviewed. She allegedly said that she rented the vehicle to Tatis Mendez on June 5th so that he could go to a concert in Ohio. GPS tracking on the vehicle pinpointed it in Bloomington Minnesota on June 11th. Police there learned that Tatis-Mendez and the accomplice had checked into a hotel, but abandoned the vehicle there and took separate flights to New York on June 12th and 13th. A search of the Lexus reportedly found a receipt from a Des Moines hotel showing Tatis-Mendez having stayed there between June 6th and 8th.
A warrant was issued on June 15th; Tatis-Mendez was taken into custody Tuesday night and charged with 1st degree theft against an older individual, a Class B felony punishable by a prison term of up to 25 years if convicted.