LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A former intake clerk at the Pulaski County jail has been fired and criminally charged after she allegedly posed as a bail bondsman and had a woman send her $500 to her personal Cash App due to “COVID protocol.”
A woman called the jail on March 12 looking for information on an inmate, according to an affidavit filed in Pulaski District Court. She told a female intake clerk that she would like to bail the inmate out. The clerk reportedly told her that a bail bondsman would call her shortly to assist her.
According to the affidavit, a woman that sounded similar to the intake clerk then called and said the inmate’s bond was set at $5,000 and the woman needed to pay $500 to bail the inmate out. The “bondsman” told her due to COVID-19 protocols, she needed to send the payment to the Cash App account “$wynterrose0720.”
The woman told police she recorded part of their conversation and took a photo of the Cash App exchange. After she sent the payment, she kept in contact with the bondsman for a few days before the bondsman’s phone was reportedly disconnected.
Detectives identified Intake Clerk Shanice Benson working at intake computers and taking phone calls in surveillance footage from March 12. They also recognized her voice on the recorded phone call with the woman, according to the affidavit. The Cash App username also resembled the name and birthdate of Benson’s daughter, detectives said.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office tweeted on Wednesday that Benson was fired and a warrant was issued for her arrest. She has been charged with theft and criminal impersonation of a bail bondsmen.
This article was originally published by KATV on April 14th, 2021. The original article can be read here.