A Hartford man is behind bars after using counterfeit cash to buy an iPad and iPhone off Craigslist and pulling a gun on one of the sellers and threatening to kill him, according to West Hartford police.
Kevon Ferrell, 21, of Fairmont Street in Hartford, turned himself in to police and charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree larceny, first-degree forgery, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree threatening.
Police said Ferrell arranged to pay $400 an iPhone 5C posted on Craigslist. He met the seller outside Walmart at 333 North Main Street in West Hartford the evening of Aug. 11 and handed over an envelope full of fake $20 bills, according to the warrant for his arrest.
When the seller realized the bills were false and confronted Ferrell outside the store, Ferrell told him, “I can kill you.” The seller persisted, and Ferrell pulled out a black pistol, pointed it at him, and said, “I will kill you,” the warrant says. Surveillance cameras at the store captured the encounter.
According to the warrant, police traced Ferrell’s cellphone number to his mother’s house. Officers arrived to find the pants Ferrell had apparently worn during the robbery, but Ferrell was gone.
Police said he had recently moved from Brooklyn, New York and still had family ties there. Surveillance footage shows him entering a car outside Union Station in Hartford the next day. According to the arrest warrant, Ferrell has a criminal history in New York, including prior forgery and firearm charges.
Ferrell has been linked to a second counterfeit transaction in West Hartford. Police said just prior to the Walmart robbery, Ferrell paid $420 in fake bills for an iPad being sold on Craigslist.
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The transaction happened on Isham Road in Blue Back Square, and the fake bills used in both incidents were marked with matching serial numbers, according to the warrant. Ferrell has not yet been charged in the Blue Back Square robbery but police said they expect to issue a second arrest warrant for him.
Ferrell is being held on $75,000 bond. He’s due in court Sept. 3.
