MONROE, Conn. — An attempt to defraud a Monroe woman out of close to $100,000 was foiled two years ago, but town detectives continued to investigate the case with U.S. Postal inspectors, eventually identifying a suspect and applying for an arrest warrant. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department arrested Antwon Tynes, 41, on unrelated charges on June 7, he waived extradition, and was picked up at the Broward County Sheriff’s jail by Monroe officers on Wednesday.
The Monroe detectives’ flights were paid for by the Division of Criminal Justice, which covers those costs for all town police departments in the state of Connecticut.
Online searches show an extensive arrest record for Tynes, who lives in Fort Lauderdale. He was charged with criminal attempt of first-degree larceny, which is a felony, and released on $25,000 bond for a July 10 court date.
On August 31, 2024, Monroe police received a complaint from a woman who reported an attempt to defraud her out of $97,982.
She told police she received a phone call with the caller I.D. showing “Bank of Amer.” The person on the other line asked if she authorized a rental car from a Hertz Rental in Texas. When she said no, the caller confirmed the last four digits of her account number and asked if she authorized a wire transfer of $97,982, which she did not.
The Monroe woman was transferred to the “fraud department,” and a female representative told her she was from the FDIC and would help her file a claim to stop the wire transfer.
The caller told the victim to open her Bank of America app, then provided the name of a bank based out of Florida, along with a routing number.
The caller told the Monroe woman that the account belonged to the FDIC and instructed her to transfer the money there to reverse the fraudulent transfer. She would receive a phone call the following day telling her if the transaction went through.
After ending the call, the Monroe woman became suspicious and called Bank of America. She was told it was a scam and that the bank had no record of any such transfer.
Ultimately, Bank of America successfully stopped the $97,982 transfer to the Florida account, so the Monroe woman did not lose any money, police said.
Nevertheless, Monroe detectives continued to investigate the case. While working with U.S. Postal inspectors they identified the Florida account holder as Tynes and pursued a warrant for his arrest, according to police.
Air-conditioning causes fire
Town firefighters quickly extinguished a structure fire at a house in the 1300 block of Monroe Turnpike just after 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, preventing it from spreading. The family was home and evacuated the house safely prior to firefighters’ arrival.
A spark from an air-conditioning unit caused the fire, according to police.
Monroe Fire Chief Kevin Catalano credited the family for quickly reporting the fire and thanked members of the Monroe Volunteer Emergency Medical Service for joining the emergency response.
Firefighters from all three town fire companies —- Stevenson, Monroe and Stepney — responded to the call with mutual aid from town police officers, the fire marshal, the Shelton Fire Department and Long Hill Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1, Catalano said in a post on the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.
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