Police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, have arrested a homeless man accused of collecting donations for a fraudulent veteran’s charity.
On Monday at 2:30 p.m., an off-duty sergeant of the Foxborough Police Department told Mansfield Police that there was a man at a Stop and Shop collecting donations for a homeless veteran’s organization.
Due to a recent Plainville arrest for a man fraudulently collecting for veterans and media coverage of similar incidents, the sergeant, a veteran, asked the man what charity he was collecting for.
The man, Gary L. Fincher, 52, allegedly told the official that he represented the National Chapter ‘Help for Homeless Vets’ and was assigned to collect that day by the Charity founder, Mark Pickens.
Fincher was at a table covered in flags with homeless veteran pamphlets and business cards wearing a baseball hat with ‘veteran’ above the bill. Fincher sat quietly as he collected donations.
Following investigation it was determined the charity did not exist.
Fincher allegedly attempted to flee the parking lot but was stopped on Route 140. He was placed under arrest for larceny over $250 by false pretenses and misleading an investigator.
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Following further investigation, it was determined that he has fraudulently obtained over $10,000 from this scheme during the recent past.
Fincher told police that he was homeless and that he was in the Army for 29 days in 1980 having been unable to complete basic training.
Fincher was held on $25,000 cash bail and will be arraigned in Attleboro District Court on Tuesday.
