Police Accuse D.C. Man in Theft of Segway Scooters

Authorities say a District man used a fraudulent credit card to purchase three Segway scooters from a downtown store last month. But they didn't help him stay ahead of police.

Police allege that Remond Coates, 27, used a fake name and a fraudulent credit card to purchase three Segways on Aug. 12 and Aug. 15 from Capitol Segway in the 1300 block of I Street NW. The total bill: $11,650. After the store's clerks learned this month that the purchases had been made with a fraudulent credit card, they called police.

A D.C. police detective, Michael Pavero, recognized that the alias used to purchase the Segways had once been used by Coates in another case, the detective wrote in court papers.

A little more sleuthing by Pavero led authorities to Coates's house in Northwest Washington on Monday. There, they found one of the Segways, police wrote in court papers.

Coates, who was charged in the District's federal court with fraud, appeared at a hearing Tuesday and was ordered detained.

At the time of the fraudulent purchases, Coates was free on personal recognizance in another federal fraud case, authorities wrote in court papers. Coates had been indicted in April on charges of conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.