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ARREST REPORTS
Two Atlanta men are charged with kidnapping after refusing to let an Alabama man out of their car and instead forcing him to go to various banks to try to cash fraudulent checks for them.
The investigation is ongoing.
The 45-year old victim from Helena says 39-year old Courtney Ayers and 23 year old Tabias Wimby approached him at The Landing park on Brooks Street in Fort Walton Beach July 19th and asked him if he was looking for work. He said he was and they requested identification and a bank card. They took photos of the documents. Parks got into a car with them and they took him to a thrift store in Destin, saying Parks wasn’t “dressed appropriately”.
Parks says the men then took him to a Regions Bank in Destin and gave him a check to deposit in his personal account. The teller said it would not clear until the next day.
He said he was then told he “belonged to Ayers” now, and they would take him to Atlanta to wait for the check to clear. He was taken to a Bank of America in Destin but became concerned about the situation and did not attempt to cash the check. He says Ayers alluded to knowing where his family lives.
At this point, he says he wanted to get away but they wouldn’t let him leave the car. They visited a third Bank of America and when he went inside, Parks told the teller what was going on. The employee locked the doors and called law enforcement. A description of Ayers and Wimby and their car went out and a deputy who spotted them conducted a traffic stop. Ayers and Wimby are now charged with kidnapping but the investigation remains active and additional charges are pending.
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