4 Men Arrested In Edmond In Connection To Metro Check Fraud

Four men from out-of-state were busted in Edmond for attempting to cash fake checks. Their trip to a Chase Bank on East 15th Street and Broadway Street last week caught the attention of bank employees.

The manager alerted police after Isaac Brown, 31, gave a teller a fake California driver’s license and two checks for more than $2,000. The bank teller recognized him from internal emails from other banks.

“While they were discussing giving us a call in the back, the suspect actually got nervous and he left. He left the checks, he left his identification he gave her, everything,” said Emily Ward, Edmond Police Department.

Police caught up with the group not long after Brown left the bank. Officers released body camera footage of the officer's interaction with Brown and three other suspects - Ladan Phillip, 27; Keandre Powlette, 23; and 23-year-old Dakota Sawyers.

Officer: “Put your hands up, put your hands up, don’t reach.” 

Their Jeep was pulled over near another Chase Bank in Edmond. The men denied visiting the banks.

Officer: “Where did y’all just come from?”

Suspect: “Get something to eat”

Officer: “Just coming to get something to eat?”

The officer found out all four men are not from Oklahoma.

Officer: “What’s your address in New York?”

“They are probably one of these that come down here really to the Midwest area because it’s a white-collar crime, it’s not a violent crime,” said Ward. “The extradition laws are more lenient.”

All four men were cooperative with police and arrested in the parking lot. They were booked into jail on multiple fraud charges.

Officers also found a stack of blank checks and a printer in the back of the car the suspects were driving.