Police: Man forced Rock Hill teen to withdraw money after check deposits
A Charlotte man is in jail after police say he and another man deposited counterfeit checks into a Rock Hill teenager’s account, and then forced her at gunpoint to withdraw the funds.
Anthony DeSean Lewis, 21, was charged with armed robbery, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and two counts of federal chartered financial institution crime, according to jail records. He remained in the Moss Justice Center on Monday without bond.
The Feb. 19 incident was reported two days later, according to a Rock Hill police report. The 16-year-old victim said she was contacted through an advertisement on the Internet and a Facebook post by an unknown man on making quick money. The man told the girl “the transactions would be legit and a quick way to make money.”
The two decided to meet at the Wells Fargo on Main Street on Feb. 19, the victim told police. When she arrived at the bank, the suspect approached her car and said he was “joking with her,” and that “the situation was not legit and she needed to cooperate with them.”
A second suspect pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the victim, telling her she needed to go with them or he would shoot her, police said. The men drove her to the bank’s ATM, where one of them asked for her account information and deposited a $2,500 check into her account. They drove to a second Wells Fargo in Rock Hill and deposited another $2,500 check into her account at the outside ATM.
The suspects drove to a third Wells Fargo location and “threatened” the girl to go into the bank and withdraw all the money in her account, police said. She complied, withdrawing about $5,100 and went back out to the car. Arrest warrants state police later determined the checks were counterfeit.
The men drove to an unknown location and forced the girl out of the car, the report states. The victim said she was scared and didn’t know who to contact, fearing retribution if she got the police involved.
The girl said she is emancipated by the court and lives on her own with two children, police said. Arrest warrants state that Lewis threatened to kill not only the victim but the two children if she didn’t cooperate.
Rock Hill investigators received a tip and information about the identity of the suspect, and on March 16 they were informed by Charlotte police that Lewis was in custody on criminal charges there.
This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Police: Man forced Rock Hill teen to withdraw money after check deposits."