- February 5, 2025
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Scammers are collecting money under the guise of helping charities.
Port Orange Police Department responded to a fraud report at Port Orange Tattoo and Art Parlor after a man who called himself “Deputy Walker” called the shop owner and said he was collecting donations for Shop with a Cop, a nationwide outreach event where police officers shop for holiday gifts with low-income children.
The shop owner put $75 in an envelope, and a woman named Samantha Pantore picked up the money, according to the affidavit.
Shop employees said Pantore was suspicious, especially after she gave them a flier and a police lapel pin from 2002.
The shop owner then arranged for Pantore to come back for another donation.
When Pantore returned, employees took photos of her, her license plate and her red, four-door car, which was driven by a white man in his 20s or 30s.
An older, white man wearing glasses sat in the passenger seat.
Pantore and the men left before police arrived.
Police called the number listed on the flier, and the man who responded said a man named Richard Anthony Beady used to work for him, but was fired for having issues with drugs.
He drove a similar car, which belonged to his girlfriend, Samantha.
The man also was called by the Ormond Beach Police Department about a similar incident.
Port Orange created a photo lineup of Pantore and five other women, and tattoo parlor employees identified her as the woman who collected the money.
Pantore is being charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud and obtain property with less than $20,000, and the case is open as the department identifies Beady and others involved.
