Monica Police on March 5 after he allegedly tried to check into Loews Hotel on Ocean Avenue posing as actor Samuel L. Jackson’s son. Since his arrest, several local businesses and hotels have alerted SMPD that they too were conned by Jackson. At one hotel, he allegedly charged more than $40,000 in one stay.
Jackson had traveled the country for three months prior to his arrest, using a fraudulent debit card to pay for hotel rooms, car rentals and other expenses. Police said Jackson called Loews and made a room reservation using the fraudulent card. Around 11 a.m., Jackson arrived at the hotel and for unknown reasons ran out of the building, according to police. Santa Monica detectives, who were already in position at the hotel after being tipped off by hotel employees, saw Jackson running and gave chase.
Jackson was apprehended a few blocks away and arrested. Loews employees had previously been warned about Jackson by a national association of hotels.
Jackson’s alleged con was that once he arrived at the hotel to check in, he would tell the clerk that his father had just deposited a substantial amount of money into the account he was using with a debit card, even though it had a low balance. He would then give the merchant a phone number to call, claiming it was his father’s bank, to verify that a deposit had been made. However, the person on the other end of the phone was not a bank representative, but Jackson’s partner in crime, who has not been identified. Merchants oftentimes gave Jackson the benefit of the doubt, possibly intimidated by the notion that Jackson was the son of a famous actor who had checked into an expensive room.
Authorities warn all merchants to call the credit company directly via the phone number provided on a given card or on file to verify potential discrepancies.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 7, 2004. Read the original PDF.