Prince George's 'Pigeon Drop' Scam Suspect Arrested In Florida: Police

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A suspect facing charges in connection with two “pigeon drop” scam investigations in Prince George’s County has been taken into custody.

William Coleman, 50, of Orange Park, Florida, was located and arrested last week in Orlando with the assistance of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. A pigeon drop scam involves convincing a victim to give the suspect(s) a large amount of cash as collateral with the hope of then sharing a larger sum of money. There have been nine pigeon drop scams reported in Prince George's County in 2023. Coleman has been charged in connection with two cases, according to Prince George's County Police.

In one case, he and his accomplice(s) successfully stole thousands of dollars from their victim. In the second case, the victim did not lose any money. In both incidents, the victims are females and senior citizens. The successful scam happened June 8 in the 6300 block of Marlboro Pike in District Heights. The attempted theft happened June 1 in the 12000 block of Central Avenue in Mitchellville, the police department reported.

Following an extensive investigation into these two incidents, PGPD detectives identified Coleman as a suspect. At the time of his arrest last Tuesday, and through subsequent search warrants, PGPD financial crimes detectives recovered multiple pieces of evidence indicative of these scams to include more than $100,000 in counterfeit cash at his Florida home. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida assisted with the search of his home in Orange Park, the police department reported.

Pigeon drop scammers often carry notes or fake letters from non-existent law firms confirming the receipt of a large amount of money from either a settlement or inheritance. A letter of this nature was recovered inside of Coleman’s car. Also recovered, newspaper wrapped in a bandana. In many pigeon drop scams, scammers use bandanas to wrap the money a victim withdraws from his or her bank. Scammers then swap out the money for bundled newspaper unbeknownst to the victims, the police department reported.

“These crimes target some of the most vulnerable in our community. I want residents in Prince George’s County to know our detectives work relentlessly to identify and arrest suspects in these scams. Regarding Coleman, we do not believe he acted alone and that he worked with accomplices. Detectives are looking into whether he is linked to similar crimes along the East Coast. We sincerely thank our law enforcement partners in Florida for assisting us with this significant arrest,” said Prince George’s County Police Department Chief Malik Aziz.

“Such crimes occur all too frequently and are predatory in nature, making this arrest a significant success. Thanks to the arrest, law enforcement has prevented further losses to potential victims and put another scammer behind bars. Through the collective efforts of law enforcement, we have effectively put an end to this scammer's ability to target innocent people, whether in Clay County or elsewhere,” said Sheriff Michelle Cook, Clay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

Coleman remains in custody in Florida pending extradition to Prince George’s County.

The PGPD reminds residents to never give money or financial information to anyone who you just met in person, online or on the phone. Anyone with information about this suspect or who could be a potential victim and would like to speak to a PGPD financial crimes unit detective can call 301-516-1464.