Daytona Beach, FL - A 39-year-old Daytona Beach woman already serving a two-year probation sentence is back in the Volusia County Jail. Daytona Beach Police say LaShanna Hopson committed check fraud against a man she met for a date. She's also charged in two purse-snatching incidents that took place at the Daytona Beach Sam's Club.
The check fraud incident took place at Bahama Breeze in February 2019. The victim - a 36-year-old Mississippi man - told officers he met Hopson through a dating website. During their date, the victim allowed Hopson to enter his vehicle while he stayed in the restaurant.
The next day, according to the victim, he got a message from his bank that Hopson had cashed a check that had been in his vehicle for $475. Detectives believe she found the check and wrote it out to herself for "restaurant cleaning" before cashing it at the BB&T branch in Ormond Beach.
Investigators also connected Hopson to two purse-snatching that took place in the Daytona Beach Sam's Club parking lot about a month apart. The first incident took place on May 8 when DBPD responded to a 61-year-old Oak Hill woman. This victim told them a woman she did not know - later identified as Hopson - opened her passenger door and stole her purse while she was loading groceries.
Detectives learned afterward that Hopson used the victim's bank card to take out over $400 from an ATM at a 7-11 on South Nova Road the next day. It's believed that Hopson tried to cash one of the victim's checks for $300 at a South Ridgewood Avenue credit union about a week later, but the bank refused to cash it.
Some items in the stolen purse - including checks belonging to the victim - were found three days later in a Ford Fiesta belonging to 51-year-old Michael McCormick. The vehicle had been seized by DBPD during an unrelated incident. Hopson and McCormick share an address in Daytona Beach. McCormick was arrested on May 11 and is still in custody.
The second purse-snatching incident happened about a month later in the same parking lot. The victim this time, a 68-year-old New Smyrna Beach woman. She was loading her groceries when a gold Dodge truck pulled up behind her. A woman - later identified as Hopson - got out of the truck, took the victim's purse from her shopping cart and got back in the truck. The truck sped off with the victim's purse, which contained about $800 in items inside, including an iPhone and credit cards.
A few days later, DBPD was notified by a TD Bank branch on West International Speedway Boulevard that a woman - believed to be Hopson - came through the drive-thru trying to cash a check for $525 in the name of the second Sam's Club victim. She fled the scene when the bank refused to honor the check.
Hopson was being processed on drug charges and probation violation by VCSO on June 12 when deputies discovered a bank deposit slip in her possession which linked her to the TD Bank incident. Investigators also believe that Hopson used some of the victim's credit cards at a South Daytona CVS store.
The owner of the gold Dodge truck used in the second purse-snatching, 63-year-old Antonio Morrow, also faces charges for his role in the incident. Detectives believe he was driving when Hopson snatched the purse.
Hopson faces numerous charges in these incidents, including grand theft,
burglary, credit card fraud, illegal use of a credit card, check forgery and petit theft. She’s also facing drug charges from when VCSO arrested her at her place of employment
