Crime & Safety

Police Reports: Lottery Scam Nets Thousands, Thefts and a DUI

A Senior Drive woman was defrauded out of $22,000, an accident at Stevenson Dam leads to a DUI and a string of thefts were reported on Woodlawn Road.

The following information was supplied by the Monroe Police Department. No arrested person is guilty until so judged in a court of law.

 

A $22,000 Lottery Fraud

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A lottery scam bilked an 83-year-old Senior Drive woman out of $22,000, according to a police complaint filed on Friday.

On Feb. 1, police said a man identifying himself at John Kingston called the victim to inform her that she won $8 million in the Mega Millionaire Florida Lottery, but that taxes and processing fees would have to be paid before she received her prize.

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Over the course of several days, police said a series of phone calls persuaded the woman to send a total of $22,000 in cashier's checks and gift cards to an address in Bradenton, Fla. When "Kingston" asked the victim to send him one more $5,000 check, she called police.

Police said detectives worked with the People's United Bank Fraud Division and were able to put a stop payment on one of the $4,000 checks. Detectives found that the phone number the victim was called from was a Jamaica number.

Accident Leads to DUI

An Oxford woman was arrested for DUI after her car crashed into the Jersey barrier of the bridge over Stevenson Dam as she tried to make a turn while heading east on Route 34 at approximately 11:07 Friday night, according to police.

The driver, Dawn M. Machnicz, 43, of Bowers Hill Road was not injured, police said. She was charged with driving under the influence and failure to drive in the proper lane and released on $500 bond for a Feb. 21 court date.

Police said Machnicz spoke with a slurred speech and had the odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath when an officer spoke to her about the accident. Field sobriety tests determined she was under the influence and a breath test at headquarters showed a blood alcohol level of .210, according to the report.

Thefts on Woodlawn

Several thefts from motor vehicles have been reported on Woodlawn Road over the past few days.

On Friday, a man walking his dog on Oakwood Drive found a pair of Ugg boots, an iPod charger and a Garmin GPS unit with two charging cords in the leaves off the roadway, police said, adding the address in the GPS unit helped officers to trackdown the owner, a teenager living on Woodlawn Road.

The victim told officers she noticed the interior of her '97 Honda Civic was in disarray when she got into her car Friday morning and that she discovered the items had been taken when she arrived at , police said. According to the report, she also found that her wallet was missing from the glove compartment.

In another incident, a set of keys stolen from a Woodlawn Road man's car on Feb. 8 was found on his street on Friday, police said.

On Thursday another Woodlawn Road resident had been contacted when items stolen from her purse were found on Gay Bower Road. That theft also occurred when the victim's car was left unlocked, according to police.

Don't Bill Me at All

An Autumn Drive man told police Saturday that someone had used his name and address for six charges totaling in a Bill Me Later account. The victim called the company, which cleared the charges, according to the report.


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