Stimulus Check Promise Lures Florida Fugitives

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --

Several dozen local fugitives were arrested when they showed up to the War Auditorium Memorial this week, thinking they were going to receive stimulus money.

The marquee outside the War Memorial Auditorium said that a group called the “South Florida Stimulus Coalition” was holding its two-day seminar on Wednesday and Thursday. But only a select few were invited to attend: those with outstanding arrest warrants.

Fort Lauderdale police sent a letter in the mail to several fugitives, saying they were chosen to receive $653 in stimulus money to help boost the economy. The letter had an official seal and came from the fictional "South Florida Stimulus Coalition." Police set up the phony organization to lure the suspects.

"These are individuals who are running away from the law, and it was done in a manner where they came to us freely," said Sgt. Frank Sousa of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

Local 10’s Roger Lohse went undercover himself and videotaped the police as they conducted their stimulus sting. One after one, the fugitives pulled in and two police officers in yellow shirts directed them into the parking lot. At the front door, the fugitives handed over their identification to an undercover officer. Not long after he led them inside, officers handcuffed them and shuttled them out the back door to a waiting police cruiser.

Lohse used a home video camera to shoot the arrests and he kept his distance so he wouldn’t blow the officers' cover.

One man was so excited to get his money he ran up to the front door of the auditorium, without realizing the officers on the other side were going to arrest him. A few minutes later, Lohse videotaped him coming out the back door in handcuffs.

Another man brought his whole family along to collect. Detectives had to tell a third man that his girlfriend would not be coming back outside.

More than 100 people responded to the letter and set up appointments to pick up their checks. Police made a total of 76 arrests over the two days of the operation.

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