PoP Reader Leads Police to Alleged Military Scammer

It was clear after reading the comments on yesterday’s post about the alleged ‘military scammer’ on metro that this was a very active scammer. Fortunately PoP readers kick ass. The photo is a bit blurry but you can see the alleged scammer in the khakis talking with police.

The reader writes:

So a few months ago, I was a victim of this guy’s scam on the Orange line. At the time, I actually felt good about myself and was proud to be helping out someone in need, especially someone who was serving our country. I felt it was the least I could do. He had documentation and everything. After initially ignoring him, the metro stalled for 20-30 minutes, so I eventually agreed to visit an ATM and give him the money he was asking for in order to get back to base.

A few months later, I saw him aimlessly wandering around Chinatown. I recognized him and he asked to use the calculator on my phone. That’s when I figured out if he was who he had originally claimed to be, the likelihood of him being back in DC was small and something did not add up.

I saw him a third time in late summer walking on Pennsylvania Ave a few blocks East of the White House. He was spewing his lies to a couple. I told them he was a liar and I instructed them not to give him any money.

Then this morning my friend (to whom I had told these stories) sent me a link to your recent blog post. I commented on the post and read just how many other people he had been negatively affecting.

Tonight, coincidentally enough, I was walking around the Chinatown area coming home from a work dinner when I spotted him. I planned on taking a close-up of his face, but before I could, he had entered the Mehak Indian Restaurant. I saw him go upstairs, so after a few minutes I decided to follow him. I walked up the stairs only to discover there was no one in sight. Baffled, I walked back down the stairs and outside to the street.

I hung around for a few minutes contemplating what to do, when finally I saw a police car driving around. I hailed it down and started explaining my story to the officers. After starting to unsuccessfully describe his physical characteristics, I saw him exit the restaurant, and said, “actually, thats him right there.”

Two policemen started questioning him, asking, “are you a marine?” to which he responded, “yes.” Thats when I snapped the picture in question.

I finished telling a third officer my story around the block while the other two officers continued to question him. I then left.

I guess we’ll see what happens.