Counterfeiting/Forgery
On October 30, 2024 at 2:50 PM police was dispatched to Walgreens, 1000 East Main Street, Greenville, Ohio, in reference to a forgery complaint. Upon arriving on the scene at approximately 2:55 PM PO was advised a black male subject was currently in the process of uttering a counterfeit $100.00 US bill at Aldi, 415 Wagner Avenue, Greenville, Ohio, thus PO immediately left the parking lot of Walgreens, en route to Aldi. Upon PO’s arrival at Aldi, a witness stated the black male subject left Aldi in a black sedan prior to PO’s arrival. Note: It was later found, the male subject had attempted to utter the counterfeit US Currency at Aldi prior to attempting to utter the counterfeit currency at Walgreens. Upon returning to Walgreens, PO spoke to Christopher Leach, store manager and Rachel Thompson, shift leader/cashier. According to Thompson, a black male subject entered Walgreens and approached cash register number two. The male subject presented two, US one hundred dollar bills and requested $132. 00 be added to a Cash App money card, along with donating $1.00 to the breast cancer fundraiser and then receive the balance of $67. 00 in cash. While attempting to complete the transaction, the male subject made a comment, in which, he thought it was odd that Greenville did not have a teacher credit union. Thompson believed the male subject made this comment in an attempt to distract Thompson as when Thompson obtained the two, one hundred dollar bills from the male subject, Thompson noticed the bills appeared to be printed on new paper, even though, the bills were the old design. Thompson further noticed the bills appeared to have been photocopied as the characteristics located on the bills were not proportional and not as clear as they would be on a legitimate bill. Thompson also noticed a faded bill verification mark was present on the bill prior to the bill being photocopied. While looking for a bill verification marker to verify the bills, Thompson requested assistance from Leach. Upon arriving at the cash register and obtaining the two, one hundred dollar bills from Thompson, Leach immediately noticed the hundred dollar bills were counterfeit for the same reasons as provided by Thompson. Leach informed the male subject that Walgreens would not accept the bills. The male subject retrieved the two, one hundred dollar bills from Leach and stated he did not understand why Walgreens would not accept the bills as the male subject had previously received the bills from a pawn shop. Leach and Thompson voluntarily provided a written witness statement. PO obtained surveillance video from Leach, which depicts on October 30, 2024 at 2:36 PM (per a time stamp on the video), a black male subject enters Walgreens from the south side of the parking lot. The black male subject is wearing a dark colored hooded sweatshirt, gray pants, brown sandals, socks and white ear buds. Leach advised there are no cameras depicting cash register number two, thus the attempted transaction was not video recorded. After being denied the transaction, the male subject exits the store at 2:40 PM and continues to walk towards the south side of the parking lot. Leach stated Walgreens does not have exterior surveillance video cameras, thus the male subject’s actions prior to and after entering the store is unknown, along with any information pertaining to a suspect vehicle. A CD-R containing the surveillance video was submitted to the Greenville Police Department’s property room as evidence. Walgreens did not suffer a monetary loss as a result of the attempted transaction.
Assault
On November 5, 2024 at 2:51 PM, police was advised of an incident that occurred at 100 GreenWave Way, Greenville Highschool. PO was advised by a Lt. that Emily Plessinger was in his Office to report an assault by a student. PO was advised that Emily was assaulted by an MRDD student at the GHS. Emily advised in her statement that on October 29, 2024 she was working in her capacity as a “paraprofessional”. Emily stated that she was beginning to get another student ready to leave for the day at approximately 2:00 PM. Emily stated that at this time that the student stood up, made eye contact with her and double punched her in the chest. Emily advised due to this she fell to the ground and ultimately went unconscious. Emily stated she had a co worker take her to Wayne ER after this incident. Emily also completed a release of medical records form which was faxed to Wayne Healthcare. Upon receiving the results PO was able to review them. Emily received several scans and tests while at Wayne. All tests and scans came back with no injuries found. Emily put in her written statement that she has missed “over 2 weeks of work so far for this incident”. The medical results were turned into the GPD records department to be included with this report. On 11/12/24 PO contacted the Darke County Board of DD and spoke to Jessica Schaffer, the student’s case worker. Jessica was advised of the situation and stated she was concerned about what is making the student act this way. Jessica stated she is familiar with the student and is aware this is not his typical demeanor. Jessica advised she would forward the information to their investigator Jason Winterrowd to see if he wished to get involved on the student’s behalf. The Prosecutor for the City of Greenville was consulted in reference to this case and it was determined that there will be no charges in this case. Case closed
Domestic (not in progress)
On November 18, 2024 at 1:46 PM policewas dispatched to 122 West Main Street, the GPD in reference to a report of domestic violence. PO spoke to the complainant/victim, Rebecca Braun and witness Shirley King. Rebecca stated that on 11/17/24 around noon she got into a verbal argument with the suspect Justin Werkema. Rebecca advised her and Justin are in a romantic relationship and reside together at 229 Hart Avenue in Greenville Ohio. Rebecca stated the argument was over her not getting ready fast enough so they could go to Walmart. Rebecca stated this caused Justin to throw a bag of trash all over her and said she was a piece of trash. Rebecca stated this incident defused, and she went to Walmart along with Justin and his friend Chris. Rebecca stated that after leaving Walmart she and Justin dropped Chris off at a friend’s house and returned home to 229 Hart Avenue. Rebecca stated the argument started back up at this point and she attempted to leave the residence. She stated she called her friend Shirley King to come get her. Both stated they have an agreement that if Rebecca calls Shirley and doesn’t say anything that Shirley is to come straight to Rebecca’s residence to help her. They advised this is due to Justin’s past domestic violence issues involving Rebecca. Rebecca stated after calling Shirley, she was in the street. She stated Justin found out she called Shirley and ran after her, grabbing her by the left arm “hitting and dragging me back to the house.” I asked Rebecca where Justin was hitting her and she stated, “my arm on the left side, back, head”. PO observed fresh bruises and redness on Rebecca’s left arm. Due to Rebecca having to take her shirt off for photographs, an ECO took the photographs on the PO’s behalf in the restroom at the GPD. Rebecca provided a written statement for this report. Rebecca refused any treatment from the squad on this date. Rebecca was provided and completed a victim’s rights form. Shirley King, who as mentioned above was a witness to this incident. Shirley stated that on 11/17/24 Rebecca advised her that she was going to be asking her boyfriend, Justin Werkema to leave their house. Shirley stated she received a phone call from Rebecca at 3:57 P.M. from Rebecca and Rebecca hung up after 16 seconds. Shirley advised she could hear Justin screaming in the background. She stated she also heard Rebecca crying and telling Justin to “get off of her”. Shirley advised that she then arrived at 229 Hart Avenue and observed Rebecca and Justin outside their residence. She stated she observed Justin punching Rebecca, pulling her left arm, and screaming at her. Shirley stated she then observed Justin hit Rebecca on the top of her head, the “back area towards her right arm shoulder” and left arm. Shirley stated Rebecca was able to get away from Justin and walk to her vehicle and she removed Rebecca from the scene. Shirley completed a written statement for this report. PO attempted to contact Justin by telephone, but was unsuccessful, so PO left a voicemail. Justin returned the phone call to discuss this incident with the PO. Justin stated that the argument never got physical and that his friend, Chris Kunkel was a witness to that. PO advised Justin PO would speak to Chris before PO determines if charges will be filed. Justin also advised that Shirley could not have been a witness as claimed due to her being at work at Walmart in Greenville. PO advised Justin PO would include checking with Walmart in the investigation. Justin advised he understood. On 11/20/24 PO spoke to Chris over the telephone. Chris stated that he was with Rebecca and Justin on the date in question. Chris stated he went with Rebecca and Justin to Rural King and Walmart in Greenville and then a shoe store in Piqua Ohio. Chris stated the three of them returned to Greenville approximately 3:00 P.M. and he was dropped off between then and 3:30 P.M. Chris stated while he was with Rebecca and Justin there was no physical altercation. After speaking with Chris PO determined he would not have been a witness to the physical altercation as it was reported that it occurred at approximately 3:57 P.M. once Rebecca and Justin returned home, after dropping Chris off. On 11/20/24 PO contacted the Human Resources department at Walmart. They advised they did not have an employee named Shirley King. PO contacted Shirley and she advised that she works third party to deliver online orders for Walmart. Shirley advised she was not working on that date and time and could prove it with delivery records. Shirley provided a copy of these records. Justin was served a citation for domestic violence on 11/21/24 and it was explained to him. Justin advised he understood the citation to include court date and time.
Theft (not in progress)
On November 19, 2024 at 9:49 AM police was dispatched to Kroger, 200 Lease Avenue, Greenville, Ohio, in reference to a theft complaint. PO met with Mary Daugherty, Asset Loss Specialist at Kroger, who stated she is currently investigating a theft incident involving subject(s) utilizing fraudulent payment information, attached to a ‘Kroger Pay’ mobile application, to purchase $590.00 in Ohio lottery instant scratch-off tickets. Daugherty was advised by Jenna Beare, Organized Retail Crime Specialist at Kroger, of numerous Kroger stores in southern Ohio, along with the Kroger stores in Piqua, Troy and Sidney, Ohio have become victims of theft where subject(s) attach stolen credit card information to a ‘Kroger Pay’ mobile application account and then scan the QR code on the’ Kroger Pay’ application at the Kroger store to complete the purchase. Currently, the subject(s) are purchasing Ohio lottery instant scratch-off tickets, thus Beare requested Daugherty conduct an audit of the Ohio lottery instant ticket purchases completed with the’ Kroger Pay’ mobile application. Daugherty found on October 15, 2024 from 11:52 AM to 11:55 AM, three transactions totaling $590.00 were made utilizing the’ Kroger Pay’ application to purchase an unknown amount of Ohio lottery instant scratch-off tickets at the Kroger gas station. There were two different’ Kroger Pay’ accounts utilized to complete the purchases and each account used stolen credit card information as a method of payment. Daugherty provided a copy of the receipts, along with Kroger surveillance video depicting the suspect vehicle and subjects, who completed the transactions. Utilizing the receipts and surveillance video, PO found the following occurred on October 15, 2024 at the Kroger gas station in Greenville. 11:49 AM: a white Jeep Cherokee enters the gas station’s parking lot from Lease Avenue. The Jeep Cherokee proceeds to park facing eastbound at pump 1. A black male subject with a beard, along with wearing a dark colored shirt under a gray zipped-up jacket, gray sweat pants, white socks and Nike slide shoes, exits the right front passenger door and proceeds to walk up to the cashier station. 11:51AM: the black male subject proceeds to purchase Ohio lottery instant scratch-off tickets totaling $210.00. The male subject is observed holding up a cellular phone with the phone’s screen depicting a QR code. The cashier scans the QR code and then gives the male subject the lottery tickets. This purchase was completed utilizing’Kroger Pay’ account number 48138928240. 11:53AM: the same black male subject, utilizing the same modus operandi, proceeds to purchase another $210. 00 in Ohio lottery instant scratch-off tickets utilizing fraudulent ‘Kroger Pay’ account number 48138928240. 11:55AM: the same black male subject, utilizing the same modus operandi, proceeds to purchase $170.00 in Ohio lottery instant scratch-off tickets utilizing fraudulent’ Kroger Pay’ account number 48138928798. After completing this purchase, the black male subject returns the Jeep Cherokee. 11:56AM: a second black male subject with a beard and dreadlocks hair style, along with wearing a white shirt underneath an olive-green sweatshirt with the phrase ‘One Day You’ll Miss Me’ written on the front of the sweatshirt, camouflage pants and white tennis shoes, exits the left rear passenger door of the Jeep Cherokee and proceeds to walk up to the cashier station. 11:58AM: the second black male subject attempts to purchase Ohio lottery instant scratch-off tickets utilizing the’ Kroger Pay’ app. When the cashier scanned the QR code, the cashier found the QR code was invalid for unknown reasons, thus the transaction was not completed. The subject immediately left the cashier station and returned to the Jeep Cherokee. 11:59 AM: the Jeep Cherokee proceeds to leave the Kroger gas station in an unknown direction of travel. While pulling away from the gas pump area, PO was able to observe the numbers’ 71215′ depicted on the license plate. Jenna Beare had previously informed Mary Daugherty, a white Jeep Cherokee; bearing Michigan registration’ DF 71215′, was involved in the other thefts. Through LEADS/NCIC, PO found Michigan registration ‘DF 71215’ returns to a 2019 Jeep Cherokee with Hammoud & Sons, 21531 Audrey Street, Dearborn, Michigan, being the registered owner. PO requested Daugherty obtain additional information pertaining to the thefts, to include but not limited to, ownership of the ‘Kroger Pay’ accounts utilized to complete the transactions, any credit card information attached to the involved ‘Kroger Pay’ accounts’ and determine if Kroger suffered a monetary loss as a result of the transactions. Daugherty provided a written witness statement and completed the Ohio Victim’s Rights form on behalf of Kroger. A CD containing the surveillance video was placed in the Greenville Police Department’s property room as evidence. After speaking with Daugherty, POI went to the Kroger gas station to view the scene and ascertain how lottery tickets would be purchased. While speaking with Jen Bowers, on-duty cashier, Bowers stated she was actually working on October 15, 2024 and sold the Ohio lottery tickets to the black male subject. The male subject informed Bowers, the lottery tickets were for his employees but Bowers became suspicious when the male subject made multiple purchases and then the second black male subject attempted to purchase lottery tickets but the transaction was denied. Due to the fact, PO did not have prior authorization from Kroger management to obtain a written witness statement from Bowers, PO did not request Bowers provide a written statement. A written statement from Bowers can be obtained at a later time, if needed. On November 19, 2024, PO received an email from Mary Daugherty advising she is still attempting to obtain the requested’ Kroger Pay’ account and credit card information. Daugherty also advised Kroger did not receive payment from the credit card company( s), which were attached to the involved ‘Kroger Pay’ accounts, thus at this time, Kroger suffered the monetary loss and remains the victim in this case.