Police are warning Metro Atlanta residents to be aware of people soliciting money after three suspects posed as basketball players to try to scam money in Dunwoody.
Two of the suspects -- 15-year-old boys -- are now at the DeKalb County Youth Detention Center.
Almost everyone has been faced with a child approaching them outside a supermarket or on a street corner, asking for money for their sports team, scouting troop or school club. The question becomes how to differentiate the good-hearted Little League players from the crooks.
“Citizens have the right to walk to their vehicle and not be approached by people trying to scam money from them, ” Dunwoody Police Det. Kelly Gobely said Tuesday.
Coaches say they frown upon sending children out alone to solicit money - even teenagers.
“As a coach, I don’t advise it. As law enforcement and as a recipient of the harassment, I don’t advise it, ” said DeKalb County sheriff’s Lt. Charlton Bivins.
Bivins, a Clayton County school board member, has spent 20 years coaching his three children in softball, baseball, football and basketball. He has organized car washes, candy drives and bake sales, but never sent his players on the street to solicit money, he said.
“I ain’t going to put kids on a street corner to flag down cars. It’s unsafe, ” he said. “And it’s not that easy, you have to get a permit. I always question kids when they come up on the street corner, especially the older ones.”
None of the Dunwoody suspects had permits, police said.
The most recent incident occurred July 7 when officers received a complaint of questionable soliciting outside Perimeter Mall on Ashford Dunwoody Road. Officers spotted two 15-year-old boys who said they were collecting money for the Carver High School basketball team, Gobely said.
After further questioning, the teens, who are from Atlanta, admitted they did not play for the team and were scamming people for money, Gobely said.
The teens were arrested on felony charges of violating the state’s charitable solicitations law.
That was the second phony charity scam in Dunwoody.
Last month, officers also responded to the Wal-Mart on Ashford Dunwoody Road where Reginald L. Broner, of Atlanta, was soliciting money for the “South Atlanta AAU Hornets” basketball team, Gobely said. Broner showed officers a flier advertising an all-star game in Jacksonville, Fla.
“The officer confirmed the information was false, ” Gobely said.
Broner was issued a citation for illegal soliciting and released.
Dunwoody Police advise charities and athletic teams to obtain a city permit if they want to solicit and always go with adults.
“It’s easiest for us to come out and check their credentials, ” Gobely said. “If they are legit, they should have no problem with that.”
Atlanta Public Schools spokeswoman Suzanne Yeager said she did not have any information about the incident involving the teens claiming to attend Carver.