Accused allegedly posed as actor Samuel Jackson’s son
By Daily Press staff
POLICE HDQTRS. — Four felony charges were filed on Tuesday against a man accused of using a famous actor’s name to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on lavish stays at luxury hotels and expensive rental cars.
Samuel Jackson, 23, of Beverly Hills, was charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office with commercial burglary, defrauding an innkeeper, fraudulent use of an access card and auto theft. An access card is a term used for a debit card, and Jackson allegedly used it fraudulently to rent a BMW, police say.
Jackson, who is being held with no bail, was caught by Santa Monica Police last Friday after he allegedly tried to check into Loews Hotel on Ocean Avenue by posing as actor Samuel Jackson’s son.
Jackson allegedly traveled the country for the past two months using a fraudulent debit card to pay for his hotel rooms, car rentals and other expenses. Police said Jackson called Loews Hotel and made a room reservation using the fraudulent card. At about 11 a.m., Jackson arrived at the hotel and for unknown reasons ran out of the building, police say. Santa Monica detectives, who arrived at the hotel at about 10:30 a.m. after being tipped off by hotel employees, saw Jackson running and gave chase. He was arrested shortly after a few blocks away. Loews employees had been alerted of Jackson through an association of hotels across the country and were waiting for him to arrive.
Since his arrest, several local businesses and hotels have alerted the SMPD that they too were conned by Jackson, who police say allegedly racked up more than $170,000 in debit card charges during his spending spree. At one hotel, he allegedly charged more than $40,000 in one stay.
SMPD warns all merchants to call the credit company directly using the phone number on the card or on file to verify potential charges.
Jackson was on felony probation for similar charges and was wanted by authorities in Oklahoma.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 10, 2004. Read the original PDF.