Coweta County cracks down on jury duty scam with recent arrest

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - Investigators in Coweta County say they made an arrest in one of those jury duty scams that have plagued so many communities in metro Atlanta. 

Nearly every single law enforcement agency has warned their communities about the scam. You have probably heard of it. The victim gets a phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer saying that they’ve missed jury duty and now they’re going to have to pay a big fine or be arrested. 

In this case, it was someone using the name of a real sergeant with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office. They say he called the victim, a 62-year-old woman, and told her she failed to show up for jury duty and now had to send him $1,355 or be arrested. She sent it. 

Police departments have been warning people for a couple years now that this is a scam, and that people shouldn’t fall for it. And it’s been really hard for them to make arrests in these cases. 

Coweta County investigators say they got a big break in the case we just described. They have arrested Robert Allen, 43, of Stone Mountain and charged him with a felony, theft by extortion. "It really set panic into her at first. When someone answers the phone and they say they have a warrant for your arrest. No one wants to go to jail. So, it's like, ‘Hey, let’s send this and hope it goes away,’" said Inv. Chris Stapler, Coweta County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s really important for you to understand this message. No law enforcement agency will ever contact you to require you to make a payment or be arrested. And if they actually have a warrant for your arrest, they aren’t going to call at all, they will show up at your door in person. 

The good news is that this scam that's been around for a while is starting to run its course. The Coweta Sheriff’s office says they still get a lot of calls from people saying they were contacted about missing jury duty, but they didn’t pay the money. 

So, it seems the message is getting out.