Suspected scammer arrested at Charlotte church

Travis Terrell Twitty, 20, of 7724 Elm Tree Lane in Charlotte, was charged with obtaining property by false pretense. He was released on a $15,000 bond.

Twitty was arrested trying to drive away from Reeder Memorial Baptist Church, police said. Members had alerted police that he had been asked people for two days for money to help him get home to see an injured relative, police said.

Authorities said Twitty and his father, David Twitty, have approached church congregations in at least a dozen North Carolina counties to seek financial help. They claim a family member has been injured or killed in an accident and take off after collecting hundreds of dollars in donations, authorities said.

Capt. Jeff Medlin of the Moore County Sheriff's Office said investigators have received reports of the same scam from churches in Wake, Durham, Orange, Alamance, Chatham, Granville, Harnett, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph and Richmond counties.

Churches in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia also have reported similar scams as far back as 1997 from a man identifying himself as David Twitty, Medlin said.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of David Twitty is asked to call the Moore County Sheriff's Office at 910-947-2931.