WALLA WALLA — A kidnapping scam in Walla Walla led to a bizarre chain of events Monday, Dec. 2, that ended in a warrant arrest of an unrelated suspect.
It started when a Walla Walla resident was contacted by someone saying they had kidnapped their daughter. The caller demanded money and even had a girl’s voice crying in the background, Walla Walla Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Nick Loudermilk said.
When the victim went to HAPO Community Credit Union on Isaacs Avenue, the victim mentioned the kidnapping call. The clerk hit the silent alarm to summon police about 12:30 p.m.
Through some miscommunication somewhere, the alarm company reported to incoming WWPD officers that there might be a kidnapping in process at the credit union. Loudermilk said this led to all available officers heading to the area.
Meanwhile, Shawn Crump, a man with an active Department of Corrections arrest warrant and who was at the gas station next door, saw the officers arrive, so he fled. Loudermilk said the incoming officers didn’t know what was happening, so some went inside the credit union, and others chased Crump.
Inside the credit union, officers had the scam victim call the supposed kidnapped girl, who answered and was safe and sound.
Loudermilk said the girl had not been answering her phone earlier when the scam victim had called.
Meanwhile, the other officers were catching up with Crump and arresting him on his active warrant.
This incident is just the latest and most unusual in a wave of scams hitting the Walla Walla area.
Loudermilk said scams occur year-round and encourages members of the public to be careful.
Scams often play out on Facebook and other social media. One example that has shown up on some local Facebook groups recently, and has since been deleted, is a message claiming to be from a mom who can’t afford to celebrate her son’s birthday at a bowling alley. She asks for advice on cheaper options. The scammer then hopes people will offer to send money. This message has been posted, word for word, on Facebook groups elsewhere.
Loudermilk said another scam that has occurred in the area are posts from people saying they are new in town, and offer specific services, such as duct cleaning, and ask for upfront payment, before never showing up to do the work.
Earlier this year, the U-B reported on a jury duty scam where scammers call victims and pretend to be police and demand payments to avoid jail time for missed jury duty. Another scam involved people posing as Pacific Power employees and threatening to turn customers’ power off the same day if a payment wasn’t made.
Loudermilk said he’s heard of both scams and said that if people slow down and think things through, they will be able to figure some of them out.
For instance, in the power company and jury duty scams, scammers often ask the victim to purchase prepaid gift cards and provide them with the information.
“No legitimate agency or company is going to make you pay in prepaid cards,” he said.
