A fraudster who deposited a bogus check at Citizens First Bank at Pinellas Plaza was arrested after police tracked down his Volvo.
The white Volvo SUV and its license plate were captured on surveillance shortly past 1 p.m. Wednesday at the ATM at the bank at 2420 Burnsed Blvd., according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
The check in the amount of $2,950 was deposited into an account using an ATM card and personal identification number. Then $200 was withdrawn from account.
Citizens Bank personnel contacted Region’s Bank from which the $2,950 check had been issued. Region’s Bank personnel indicated the account holder’s signature did not match the signature of the check deposited at Citizens First Bank.
On Sunday, a Wildwood police officer spotted the Volvo at the intersection of State Road 44 and U.S. 301. The officer noted that the driver was not wearing a seatbelt. The registered owner of the Volvo, 30-year-old Marcus Jerod Blackwell, matched the man captured on surveillance at the bank.
Blackwell was arrested on charges of fraud and petit theft.
He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. He was already on probation at the time of his arrest.
