Victims of ‘pigeon drop’ scam asked to contact police

By Amanda Finnegan

Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009 | 11:05 a.m.

Metro Police fraud detectives are asking victims to come forward in what they are calling a “pigeon drop” scam.

William Howard Mitchell, 53, who also goes by Thurman Roland, and Rotzilyn Mitchell, 51, of Las Vegas, were booked into the Clark County Detention Center and charged with multiple felony crimes related to the scam earlier this month.

The pair, who called themselves David Jenkins and Diane Black, would split up and give the impression that they did not know one another. The female suspect would the approach a victim, normally an Asian female, sometimes elderly, and feed the victim a story that she found a wallet with a large sum of money and needed assistance securing control of the money, which involved attorney fees. The suspect would offer to split the money with the victim, if the victim put up the money.

The male suspect would act as a bystander, getting involved as a witness to the transaction. Many times he was involved in driving the victim and the female suspect to a bank or home to obtain money. Later, the two suspects would separate themselves from the victim and disappear.

The suspects would often alter their appearances to hide their identity.

Metro has investigated approximately 58 incidents of the scam, resulting in more than 80 counts for each of the victims including: conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretenses and theft. Metro believes many victims have still not been discovered.

Anyone who has had any contact with these individuals, or who has any information related to this criminal activity, is urged to contact the Metro Police fraud detail at 828-3285 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.