As World Series fever gripped D.C., police arrested a West Virginia man for allegedly selling fake tickets to Game 3. Officers found him having a "heated argument" with the alleged victim blocks from Nationals Park, police said.
D.C. police say 54-year-old Ondre Nelson, of Huntington, West Virginia, sold counterfeit tickets to someone in the unit block of N Street SE, near Nationals Park, about 6:30 p.m. Friday.
The Washington Nationals played their first home game in the World Series that night. Tickets for the team's three home games were in high demand; prices started in the hundreds and soared to more than $1,000 on reselling sites.
The victim told police that he was approached by two people who offered to sell them five tickets to Friday night's game. The victim said he paid them $2,000 in cash for the tickets, but before walking away, he also took a picture of one of the sellers, a police document said.
When the tickets were scanned at the entrance to the park, the victim was told they were fake. He was then gave the photo he'd taken of the suspect to police, according to the document.
Police searched the area but didn't find anything at first, but several blocks away, an officer was flagged down and found an argument between two people: the alleged victim and a man later identified as the suspect in the photo, according to the police document.
The victim told police he'd found both men who had sold him the fake tickets, and that one of them gave him back $1,300 and then left the area. The victim told the officer that Nelson had the remaining $700.
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Nelson was arrested and then taken to a hospital for complaints of having trouble breathing, according to the police document.
Nelson is facing a charge of first-degree fraud, police said.
Metropolitan Police shared this page for tips on how to avoid ticket scams. People can also use Safe Exchange Zones when conducting in-person transactions stemming from apps or websites such as Craigslist and Offer Up, the department said. Go here for more info on those safety zones.
