Five St. Petersburg residents arrested in Sarasota

Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested five St. Petersburg residents in a scheme to steal approximately $11,000 in merchandise.

The group was attempting to use a RushCard Vise card to make a large purchase at Look at Me Now Urban Wear on 17th Street. The transaction couldn't be processed as debit or as credit. One of the suspects pretended to call the bank, and the alleged bank representative gave the clerk permission to run the card "offline."

The clerk recalled a scam alert that detailed a similar crime, and stalled suspects until deputies arrived. Deputies found two men in a waiting vehicle, one at the store entrance, and two inside. They determined the person pretending to be the bank official was actually one of the men in the car.

The five suspects, Jermell Ford, Wanda Douglass, Terron Gland, DeJuan Poole and Gavarian Sampson, were charged with scheme to defraud. Poole faces one additional charge for possession of marijuana. All of the suspects have prior arrests in Pinellas County for a range of crimes, including aggravated battery and burglary.

Anyone with information on these suspects or their activities, or who believes their business may have been victimized in a similar scheme, is encouraged to call Criminal Investigations at 861-4900.