Stanley Cup Final: 5 Arrests For Fake Tickets

NASHVILLE, TN — Metro Police arrested five people — three Saturday and two more Monday night — for allegedly selling fake tickets to Stanley Cup Final games at Bridgestone Arena between the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins. Of the five, only one was a Nashvillian.

With record prices and sky-high demand, the atmosphere was rife for counterfeiters, with the Preds, the NHL and police all issuing caveat emptors ahead of Game 3. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

On Saturday, John Conner, 39, of New Orleans, allegedly sold four tickets for $800 each at the corner of 4th Avenue South & Demonbreun Street. When those tickets were checked with the Bridgestone box office, they were found to be fakes, according to police. He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Kenny Lamar Redding, 32, of Atlanta, and Torriane Davenport, 42, of Marietta, Georgia, are accused of acting together to sell counterfeit tickets outside the downtown Hilton Hotel Saturday. Police said they found "numerous fraudulent tickets hidden" in one of Davenport's socks. Redding is being held in lieu of $80,000 bond. Davenport’s bond is set at $76,000.

Monday, police arrested Christopher Cross, 38, of Nashville. According to his arrest affidavit, an investigator had seen him talking with Conner Saturday and spotted him again Monday. The investigator said Cross had two tickets — later confirmed as fakes — and a false driver's license. Cross was seen speaking to Michael Martins, 31, of New York. Police said he had nine counterfeit tickets, which he said he had purchased for $100 each, but he could not say where or from whom he bought them.

All five are charged with criminal simulation.

Images via MNPD