April 2023 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN April 2023 Page 5 PA State Police press release In February, the Pennsylva- nia State Police, Troop J, York station filed charges against an Alabama man who illegally obtained a horse from a Pennsyl- vania victim through a fraudulent credit card scheme. The suspect is identified as Bradley Wells, age 39, of Irvington, Alabama. The horse, named Predict the Future, was safely recovered and returned to its owner. State Police was notified of the theft on November 17 when they were called to the victim’s property in Shrewsbury Township, York County. The victim reported he had posted the horse for sale online and believed it had been stolen from him via a financial fraud scheme. While Predict the Future was for sale, the owner received a phone call from a man calling himself "Leroy Davis." "Davis" claimed to be from Mississippi and agreed to a sale price of $15,000, which he paid with two $7,500 credit card transactions. The victim had the horse shipped to the buyer’s supposed address in Moss Point, Mississippi, via a transport company. Following delivery, the victim was notified the credit card transactions had been disputed as fraudulent, and the money was removed from the victim’s bank account to cover the chargeback. The victim told investigators the horse was microchipped and could be iden- tified via the microchip serial number if needed. Criminal Investigator Tpr. Timothy Reynolds contacted the private transport company, Brook Ledge, Inc., which said "Leroy Davis" had scheduled the transport and paid for the shipment via credit card. The horse was to be shipped to and picked up at their stable in Lexington, Kentucky, but the staff there would not let "Davis" leave with the horse because his trailer was deemed inadequate and unsafe for transport. The company agreed to transport the horse to Moss Point, Mississippi, at Davis’ request. This was also paid for by credit card. After the horse was delivered, the ship- ping company was notified the card transaction was unsuccess- ful. It was found the credit card transactions were all reported as fraudulent by the rightful owners of the card numbers in each transaction. Tpr. Reynolds also obtained search warrants for multiple phone numbers that were used to facilitate the transactions. Through information obtained from the search warrants, it was discovered a cell phone with the phone number connected to this crime was in the area of the stables in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 13, and in the area of Piggly Wiggly in Moss Point, Alabama Man Arrested for York County, PA Horse Theft, Credit Card Fraud (Continued on page 30)