Audio By Carbonatix
Meet Ricky Carr. He’s 53, from Fort Worth, and a regular visitor to both the Dallas and Tarrant County jails. One’s first impression upon looking at his picture is probably not “Hey, he looks just like a police officer!” or “Finally! Someone who can tell me if this pile of cash I have is real.”
But that’s based on a mug shot, and mug shots are notoriously unflattering. We’re sure he cleans up very nicely. He must. Otherwise how would he be able to convince nearly a dozen old people in Dallas to hand over a total of more than $100,000 in cash, as police say he did?
You can watch Carr in action as he allegedly scams a walker-using 81-year-old out of a large sum of money on this surveillance video from Inwood Tavern. Police say he arranged meetings like this over the phone, targeting the elderly and telling them that he was a police officer who needed to inspect freshly withdrawn cash to determine if it was counterfeit.
The victims never discovered whether their money was real or not because police say Carr never brought it back to tell them. He kept it and, presumably, spent it.
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Carr was arrested on Tuesday and is now back in the Dallas County Jail on theft charges. So if you get a call from Lew Sterrett asking you to bring down some cash so a police officer can inspect it, hang up immediately.