PANAMA CITY — Police have arrested a Panama City man for allegedly spending another person’s tax return given to him by accident, according to arrest records.
Dominique Alexander Johnson, 21, was arrested Feb. 19 after his tax return check was mixed up by Friendly Check Cashing, 540 E. Sixth St., with that of a similarly named individual. He spent a majority of the check before being charged with grand theft, according to Panama City Police Department arrest reports.
Representatives of Friendly Check Cashing declined to comment, but according to police reports, an employee of the store told police Johnson and a woman also named Dominique Johnson — although with a different middle name — had their taxes done at the business. The tax return check for the man was worth $142; the woman’s tax return check was worth $6,599, police said.
The man had come into the business earlier to pick up his check and was given the woman’s in error. The staff realized their mistake when the woman came to pick up her check a few days later. Friendly Tax Return then cut a check for $6,599 to the woman and attempted to get the man to pay back the difference, police reported.
But when the employees called him to notify him of their mistake, he allegedly told them he already had spent a significant amount of the tax return, according to PCPD.
He “stated he knew he was given the wrong check but still spent all but $400 of the $6,599 he was given,” police reported. He “also told (the employee) he was not going to reimburse them due to their mistake and hung up.”
Friendly Check Cashing employees contacted police to pursue criminal charges. Dominique Alexander Johnson was arrested a few days later and charged with grand theft. His bond was set at $7,500, and he has since posted bond. According to Bay County records, Johnson does not have a history of committing felony crimes.
He did not respond to a request for comment on this story and the woman could not be reached.