Payday Loan Times

Everest Metro Police in Wisconsin confirmed that someone has robbed the Payday Loans store in Weston on Friday morning.

A worker was getting ready to open the Pay Day Loan Store when a man walked in with a knife, jumped over the counter and demanded money.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to this same worker, as just three weeks ago she was held up and told police the robber is the same man who targeted the cash advance payday loan store before.

Everest Metro police responded to the call around 8:30 that morning.

The worker told police the robber held her up, then ran off with cash. The Everest Metro Police Chief says he suspects drugs are behind all these instant cash loan robberies.

Police Chief Dan Vergin said: “This isn’t because people can’t pay their grocery bills, and it’s probably is for one purpose, I’m betting it’s going to turn out to be drug abuse.”

Police are looking for a white male who was wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt.

Police are looking for a man who robbed Check into Cash Pay Day Loans Co. at 875 Oak Park Blvd. in Pismo Beach about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The unidentified robber was reportedly wearing a black mask and black sweatshirt. He claimed to have a gun in his pocket and escaped the fast payday advance store with an unspecified amount of cash.

“He entered the business and threw a bag at the clerk,” said Cmdr. Jeff Norton of the Pismo Beach Police Department. “He simulated having a weapon. It is still under investigation whether this is related to the robbery in Nipomo.”

A bank robbery under similar circumstances occurred Monday afternoon at the Mid-State Bank & Trust branch at 615 West Tefft St. in Nipomo.

According to witnesses, the Check into Cash robber was either white or Hispanic, approximately 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed about 180 pounds.

The Nipomo bank robber was described as a white, heavy-set man in his late 30s who was wearing a dark ball cap with white lettering, a blue sweatshirt, baggy jeans and latex gloves. Witnesses also reported that he had a goatee and what looked like fake sideburns, officials said.

The payday loan company offers small, unsecured, short-term loans ranging from $100 to $1,000, until the borrower’s next payday.

Police believe a man arrested at a Chandler payday loan store this week had developed a scheme to cash checks using fake pay stubs and accomplices posing as his employees.

Chandler police said 52-year-old Clifford Jack Chester tried to run the scheme at the Checkmate Payday Loans store on Alma School Road north of Ray Road when he was arrested.

According to a preliminary police report, here’s how the scam worked:

Chester would recruit accomplices and have them open a checking account in their name with very little money in it. He then would send them into a payday cash advance store to get a cash advance using phony pay stubs he supplied that made the person appear employed. The accomplice would write a check on the account, get a $400 advance then split the money with Chester.

On Wednesday, police were tipped when the store became suspicious of a man trying to cash a check they believed was fraudulent. When officers arrived they stopped the male suspect inside the quick cash loan store and questioned a female suspect waiting in his car.

During questioning, the officer was approached by an employee from the nearby Philly’s Famous restaurant, who said another man was pacing in the restaurant and watching them question the suspects.

According to the report, the man in the restaurant was Chester. After questioning, he admitted he drove the other suspects to the bad credit payday loan store to cash the check. A background check showed Chester was wanted on previous fraud and forgery charges in Scottsdale and Tempe.

Police said Chester gave written consent to have his car searched, where police found a briefcase full of checks, IDs and bogus company documents in his name, along with methamphetamine and prescription drug bottles.

The two accomplices told police that Chester was the “leader of the fake company” and gave police a copy of a cheat sheet for the scam. Police said they found the original in Chester’s shirt pocket.

Chester was arrested on suspicion of criminal impersonation, fraudulent schemes, identity theft and possession of methamphetamine.

A man wearing panty hose over his head robbed an Arizona payday loan store in East Mesa on Thursday evening of last week, officials say.

Police report that the man came in the payday advance store at 11540 E. University Drive and demanded money about 6:45.

The man took an undisclosed amount of money and fled on foot. He did not brandish a weapon during the robbery.

He is described as White, 25-30 years of age, about 5′5″, with a heavyset build and possible facial hair.

The suspect in the payday cash loan heist was last seen wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans, witnesses say.

The Grand Canyon State is a hotbed of payday loan activity - to the chagrin of many legislators - and as a result, this is not the first time a notable Arizona payday loan robbery has taken place.

Last August, the notorious “cash advance clowns” hit up a number of payday cash loan institutions before being apprehended.

Pensacola police officers are searching for a man who robbed a payday advance business over the weekend.

The robbery occurred about 5:05 p.m. Saturday when the man entered the Fast Payday Loans in the 300 block of East Cervantes Street and set a small black backpack on the counter, according to a Police Department release.

A 43-year-old female employee told police the man asked her three times to come to the front counter, the release said.

“When she did, she noticed he was shaking his hand inside the backpack as though indicating he had a gun,” the release said.

The payday cash loan employee told police she screamed when she realized what was happening. The woman said the suspect told her he would shoot her if she looked at him, according to the release.

“The suspect then demanded cash, the clerk complied, and he left the business on foot headed eastbound on Cervantes Street,” the release said.

The suspected instant payday loan thief, described as a Hispanic male, is about 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 40 years old and has acne scars on his face. He was wearing a black hat and white striped T-shirt, the release said.

A man in his late 20s robbed a payday loan store in the 5400 block of South Padre Island Drive on Monday night, tying up a female clerk before fleeing with cash, police said.

Police still were looking for the man late Monday. He was described as thin, about five feet, nine inches tall, said police Capt. Tim Wilson. The man walked into the EZ Money Payday Loans store at about 7 p.m., showed a woman behind the counter a black handgun and asked her to open a safe, Wilson said.

She gave him cash and he tied her up in a back room, Wilson said. He then ran out the front door. A customer entering the instant cash loan establishments about 10 minutes later heard the woman’s cries for help and called police, Wilson said.

Police would not say how much money was taken, citing an ongoing investigation.

A Lynchburg woman who embezzled $8,000 from a payday loan company will serve 10 days in the Amherst County Jail.

Lashaun Patrice Smith, 33, pleaded guilty in Amherst Circuit Court on Tuesday and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. All but 10 days were suspended.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Anthony Martin said Smith began taking out false no fax payday loans in late 2005, using the names and information of people who received legitimate loans from Cash Advance in Madison Heights.

Smith will be put on two years probation after her release and was ordered to pay back the money she stole from the cash advance payday loan lender.

A grand jury indicted Smith in October on 13 counts of embezzlement. She originally faced two dozen other related charges, including forgery, but those were dropped, Martin said.

Smith could end up serving the suspended portion of her sentence if she violates the conditions of her probation after her release from jail.

Police questioned three men in connection with a robbery at Fast Payday Loans, 2012 S. Limestone St., Tuesday afternoon, said Springfield Police Division Sgt. Jeffrey Flores.

Police found a vehicle at 520 Johnny Lytle Ave. matching the description of the vehicle used in the robbery. The three occupants, who do not live at the address, were taken in for questioning regarding this recent payday cash loan crime.

Flores would not say what, if any, evidence was recovered from the house or vehicle.

According to initial reports, two males entered Fast Payday Loans Tuesday afternoon and robbed the cash advance business.

A description of the suspects was not available at press time. It also was not disclosed if the suspects had weapons. Flores said he did not know when, or if, there would be any arrests in the case and that the investigation is ongoing.

A payday loan store was robbed by Tuesday at about 6 p.m. in the 500 block of E. Colfax.

According to a police report, the suspect entered the cash advance venue, approached an employee, pulled out a handgun and demanded all the money in the vault in the back.

The victim complied, handing over more than $1,300 in cash. The suspect then fled. He remains at large.

As you might expect, brick and mortar locations that specialize in cash loans are susceptible to robberies. Few other businesses carry as much cash on hand as these operations do.

The Albuquerque Fire Department is investigating multiple fires around the Duke City, including one that burned down a payday loan business.

The AFD said it was about 4:15 a.m. Friday when a passer-by called 911 after seeing smoke and flames coming from the payday advance loan business at 4th and Candelaria in the northwest part of town.

Fire crews arrived on scene and were able to put the fire out, but not without it causing substantial damage to the office in the building.

“When we arrived, we saw smoke and flames visible coming out of one of the windows”, said AFD battalion commander Patrick Feist. “The building itself is a mobile home facility, so obviously those structures go up very quickly.”

Fire investigators said the fire started underneath the office of the facility and is still being investigated. It’s not assumed, at the moment, that anyone was intentionally trying to ruin this quick cash advance operation.

AFD crews also are looking into as many as nine car fires that started overnight around Albuquerque. All of the fires were in neighborhoods around the University of New Mexico. Police do not have anyone in custody in connection to these fires.