Alleged scam artist caught
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A man who flim-flammed some of the town’s most generous givers is now in jail.
Salisbury Police arrested Santo (Santos) Monicon Shipp, 48, 317 N. Martin Luther King Ave., around 6:30 a.m. today.
Chief Mark Wilhelm said a patrol officer spotted Shipp walking along a street near the downtown.
Shipp is charged with six counts of attempting to obtain property by false pretense and five counts of obtaining property by false pretense. His bond was set at $25,000.
Shipp, who is out on parole from a life sentence handed down in 1994, approached dozens of seniors in Salisbury with a story of a family tragedy in South Carolina and a broken down car. He virtually always asked for money to fix the car.
In many cases, he targeted people well known for giving to charity.
Detective Patrick Smith said police received 16 calls from people who were targeted by Shipp.
Some declined to press charges.
When picked up this morning, Shipp didn’t have any money on him and he declined to talk to police.
Shipp was convicted in 1994 of first-degree burglary and break-ins, almost always targeting elderly residents, and sentence by Superior Court Judge Tom Seay to life in prison.