2 State Fair ticket-takers arrested
Published: Tue, Oct. 21, 2008 01:28PM
Modified Tue, Oct. 21, 2008 01:31PM
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closeRALEIGH -- Someone who noticed "some sort of a handoff" between two ticket-takers at the N.C. State Fair led to charges that the pair had stolen nearly $980 in cash and tickets, authorities said.
Travis Baker Rhodes, 87, of 1704 Lorimer Road, Raleigh, and Olivia Lee Jordan, 55, of 2305 Lockwood Folly Lane, Raleigh, were charged Monday with embezzlement. Rhodes and Jordan worked at an admission booth for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which oversees the fair, said Brian Long, a fair spokesman.
The pair were listed as state employees but were hired solely for the fair, Long said. The spokesman said he understood that Rhodes, "the senior citizen," was working part-time for the fair. Long said he was not sure how much Rhodes and Jordan were paid.
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"Maybe they felt like it wasn't enough," he said.
Rhodes and Jordan had been working at the fair since it opened Thursday. The two worked together at the same admissions booth.
"One worked as the ticket-taker. One worked as a ticket seller," Long said.
Police and state fair officials say one of the workers - Long thinks it was Rhodes - would take fairgoers' purchased tickets. But instead of disposing of the tickets following the sale, police think Rhodes would palm the tickets and stick them in his pocket.
"He would collect a few, put them in an envelope and give them back to the person in the ticket booth," Long said.
That person - Long think it was Jordan - would resell the tickets. Police say Rhodes and Jordan would then split the money from the reselling of the tickets.
The scam was moving along as smoothly until a person Long declined to name saw an unusual handoff between the pair and tipped off the police.
"They weren't doing a large number a day," Long said. "I'm still scratching my head as to why they were doing it in the first place."
Tickets at the admission gate are $7 for adults and $2 for children.
Jordan could not be reached for comment today. Rhodes has hired an attorney, Duncan McMillan of Raleigh. McMillan was not available for comment this afternoon.
Police took Rhodes and Jordan to the Wake County Jail on Monday. T
thomasi.mcdonald@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4533
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