NJ couple arrested in scam call requesting bail for grandson

BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP — A Paterson couple was arrested and charged with trying to scam a 93-year-old Arkansas man out of supposed bail money for his grandson.

The man called the Chicot County, Arkansas Sheriff's Department after receiving a call from someone identifying himself as an attorney saying that his grandson crashed after driving drunk with a pregnant woman, according to township police. The caller also said the woman was in danger of losing her baby because of the crash.

The man was told to send $3,500 in cash to an address at the Pointe Breeze apartments on Route 206 in Bordentown in order to release his grandson.

The sheriff's office notified Bordentown police and the FBI, which coordinated a controlled delivery with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The identified the couple as Kevelin Garcia, 21, and Edgar Trejo-Tavarez, 21, both of Park Avenue in Paterson.

As the two exited the parking lot with their shipping envelope they were stopped for a traffic violation by police.

A search of their 2005 Honda Accord turned up another $10,130 in cash that police believed to have been received in similar scams.

Trejo-Tavarez was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception and possessing a false government document. He was also found with a fake New Jersey driver's license. He is being held in the Burlington County Jail pending a detention hearing.

Garcia was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception and released pending a future court date.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ