The Texarkana Texas Police Department is using its feature, “Felony Friday” to spotlight a local family that is suspected of stealing thousands of dollars from a blind man in Texarkana.
Media Release:
This week’s Felony Friday is a family affair.
We are looking for brothers Justin Smith and Christopher Watkins for their part in stealing 1000’s of dollars from a 78 year old blind man, for whom their mother, Nelda Farrars, worked.
Over the course of several months, Nelda stole a number of checks from the victim and made them payable to Justin, who then cashed them at area banks and businesses. The total of the checks that we know were forged is over $7,400 – and that’s not counting the checks cashed in Arkansas. During this same time, a credit card account was opened in the victim’s name and several charges were made at a local motel. In the course of investigating the case, Detective Warren Smith found evidence that Christopher had the victim’s personal information (including his birthday and Social Security number) written down in his shop journal.
On top of all of that, someone took out a $45,000 loan in the victim’s name back in July at a whopping 53 percent interest rate. No… That’s not a typo. 53 percent!!!!
Nelda Farrars was arrested last night in Texarkana Arkansas for Forgery and is now awaiting extradition back to Texas. We’ve looked at all the addresses that we have for her sons but haven’t been able to find them yet. Justin Smith is wanted for Forgery and Christopher Watkins for Fraudulent Use or Possession of Identifying Information.
If you know where we can find either one of these model citizens, please call us at 903-798-3116 or Texarkana Area Crime Stoppers at 903-793-STOP. We’d really like to line them up with accommodations near their mother in the Bi-State Jail.
