Jimmy Altidor, 34, is facing multiple charges including organized scheme to defraud, fraudulently using or possessing personal identification, obtaining property by false personation, communications fraud, unlawful use of a communications device, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and property damage, Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office officials said.
By Brian Hamacher
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| RAW: Jimmy Altidor, 34, is facing multiple charges including organized scheme to defraud, fraudulently using or possessing personal identification, obtaining property by false personation, communications fraud, unlawful use of a communications device, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and property damage, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office officials said. |
A South Florida man suspected in a scheme that targeted elderly victims using Uber drivers to take their money has been arrested after he fled from deputies earlier this month, authorities said.
Jimmy Altidor, 34, is facing multiple charges including organized scheme to defraud, fraudulently using or possessing personal identification, obtaining property by false personation, communications fraud, unlawful use of a communications device, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and property damage, Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office officials said.
According to an arrest report, the sheriff's office Organized Crimes Bureau's Vice Intelligence Squad has been investigating multiple elder fraud incidents in which suspects used an Uber rider account to request trips to collect money from victims.
The suspects contact the elderly victims by phone pretending to be bank employees or federal agents and claiming the victims' accounts have been compromised before they persuade the victims to disclose sensitive bank information and surrender funds.
An Uber is then arranged by the suspects to be sent to the victims to pick up cash, credit cards or other financial instruments that are delivered to the suspects.
During the investigation Altidor, of Coral Springs, was identified as a possible suspect and on May 5 investigators learned of a possible suspicious Uber pickup involving an account Altidor opened in 2025, the report said.
Records showed that between October 2025 and May 2026 the rider name associated with the account changed 10 times "in an apparent effort to evade Uber investigations and continue fraudulent activities," the report said.
Detectives responded to the Uber drop off location and saw the driver arrive and Altidor get out of a Mercedes Benz E63 AMG and collect the package from the Uber driver, the report said.
Detectives approached and told Altidor to stop but he got in his car and fled, causing a sergeant and a detective to get out of the vehicle's path to avoid being hit, the report said.
Altidor sideswiped a unmarked police vehicle as he fled and deliberately struck a detective's unmarked car as a high-speed pursuit ensued onto I-95, the report said.
The chase continued until authorities lost sight of Altidor, and the Mercedes was later found abandoned, the report said.
Detectives later spoke with spoke with a 77-year-old victim who said she received a call from a man who claimed to be a Chase bank employee who said there were fraudulent charges on her Chase card.
She said she gave the caller her online password, and was instructed to go to her bank and withdraw $14,000 from her account.
After she withdrew the money she was told to put it in an envelope and bring it to an FBI courier, which she did.
She later received a call and was told to give her Chase credit card to another FBI courier, and gave the card to a person who turned out to be the Uber driver who later met with Altidor, the report said.
On Monday, Altidor arrived at MDSO's Kendall District Station to surrender himself, and he was arrested and booked into jail, the report said.
Altidor appeared before a judge on Tuesday who listened as a prosecutor outlined the allegations against him before addressing Altidor.
"Mr. Altidore, do you have a mother? Do you have a grandmother?" Judge David H. Young asked. "How's she doing, is she good? Is she financially okay? What happens if somebody scammed her, how would you feel about that?"
"I would feel horrible," Altidor responded.
"The smartest thing you've done in the last 24 hours is hire an incredible lawyer, you're going to need him," Young said later in the hearing. "You will listen to him."
Young set Altidor's bond at $49,000 plus house arrest.
"Clearly there are other people involved, Mr. Altidore may be purely innocent, he may not have known or been aware of the criminality of the investigation or the actions of others that were happening at the time," defense attorney Jonathan Jordan said.
Full Article & Source:
‘You're going to need him': Miami-Dade judge tells suspect in elderly fraud to listen to lawyer
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