A local service station manager may have uncovered the person responsible for several change scams in the area.
Darlene Dondineau, store manager at the Shell gas station on 1765 S. Ortonville Road, Ortonville, reported an attempted scam that took place at about 1:34 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16 at the station.
According to a report by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, Dondineau stated she was training a new cashier. A black male approached the cashier and purchased a bag of chips with a twenty-dollar bill. During the transaction, the male attempted to confuse the cashier and requested forty dollars in change back.
Dondineau, overhearing the conversation, then took charge of the transaction and gave the male change back for twenty dollars. She said the male quickly left the store in a black Cadillac in an unknown direction.
“Darlene had read the crime reports in the paper and believes that the same person who attempted this scam had also done it at other stores,” Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Dept. Terry Sommerville said.
Dondineau obtained a picture of the suspect and posted it so the store’s other cashiers could be on the lookout for the alleged perpetrator.
Sommerville said he believes the gentleman suspected of attempting the scam has pulled off several other incidents in Ortonville. He said the local Rite Aid and Sunoco stores, as well as the Filling Station Cafe on M-15, have all reported change scams.
The incident is currently under investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.