Published: September 02, 2008 06:57 pm      

Teen accused of posing as soldier, scamming money

A man posing in a military uniform while shopping at local businesses who was afforded tax-free and soldier discounts has bilked mom and pop convenience store owners and other retail outlets out of thousands of dollars and today is jailed in Cumberland County.

Damian Paul Castillo, 19, 466 Haston Rd., Pikeville, was arrested Thursday night and by Friday morning was facing locally 25 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, six counts of violation of the bad check law and criminal impersonation. In addition, Castillo is said to be facing serious felony charges in Bledsoe County and already has charges against him in Oregon.

"He was passing himself off as a member of the U.S. Air Force," Cumberland County Sheriff's Investigator Ben Waller said. While it is uncertain whether Castillo ever told anyone he was actually a member of the military on active duty, the presence of him wearing the uniform led many store owners to believe he was. Some were more than happy to provide him with a military discount toward purchases in their stores, and in one case, tax-free purchase.

A member of the Junior ROTC program while in high school, Castillo was taking a plane trip and when he boarded the plane for his flight, his coach pass was upgraded to a first-class seat. He has since used the guise to gain at least one "first-class flight," according to investigators.

Castillo had an elaborate scam going, investigators claim, that involved him appearing at local businesses to make purchases with a credit card. When given the opportunity to enter a personal identification number (PIN) into the system for approval, Castillo instead allegedly entered an over-ride code that resulted in the register printing out a receipt as if the credit card had been honored and was good.

Between Aug. 23 and his arrest on Aug. 30, Castillo is accused of bilking nine businesses out of more than $14,102, Waller said.

Police actually first learned Castillo was in the area when they received a complaint on Aug. 25 that he had allegedly made threats to an unknown party on Taylor's Chapel Rd. During that investigation they learned that the California native's driver's license was suspended.

They did not locate Castillo, who was driving a black Chevrolet truck, according to Deputy Anthony Loshbough's report, until Thursday evening when deputies were called to Caruther's Grocery on Lantana Rd. to file a report on a man who attempted to make a purchase fraudulently with a credit card. Loshbough was the responding officer and recognized the description of the suspect.

A short time later he located the man as he made a purchase using the same scam at Fairyland Tobacco and Beverage. Castillo was taken into custody at that point and taken to the Justice Center where he was questioned, bank authorities consulted, and ultimately charged with the 32 counts, six of which are felony charges.

"We have reason to believe that he has done this type of thing with that credit card 43 times, 25 times which were in Cumberland County," Waller said. The investigator added that the sheriff's department was sharing information that Cumberland investigators have uncovered with other police agencies.

Castillo was arrested without bond and will make an appearance in General Sessions Court Thursday at which time an attorney and bond will be issues the court will address.