Name dropping leads to arrest

A Radcliff man is lodged in a Louisville jail after police say he purchased three diamond rings using bad checks.

KINDER

Allen T. Kinder, 36, is charged in Jefferson County with theft by deception including cold checks $10,000 or more, and theft by deception including cold checks less than $10,000.

He also was served an arrest warrant from Hardin County for theft by deception including cold checks less than $10,000.

Meade County Sheriff Butch Kerrick said his office had been “hunting” for Kinder when they arrested him Thursday in Muldraugh.

Kinder bought two diamond rings from Gross Diamonds in St. Matthews Wednesday using a check for which he did not have sufficient funds, said Kerrick, a veteran of Louisville Metro Police Department.

The check was for more than $10,000, Kerrick said.

Kinder was able to convince a store employee to take the check by telling them he was an employee of the Meade County Sheriff’s Office.

“They knew me and that’s the reason they took the checks,” Kerrick said.

During his time in Louisville, Kerrick assisted Gross Diamonds with its security, he said. When Kinder’s check failed to go through, the store owner contacted Kerrick.

The same day Kinder  purchased the diamond rings, he sold one to an Elizabethtown pawn shop, Kerrick said.

Kinder was involved in a similar incident in September at Genesis Diamonds, another St. Matthews jeweler, and the city’s police department opened an investigation, Kerrick said.

Knowing of the ongoing investigation, Kerrick’s office located Kinder in Muldraugh, he said, and arrested him on the Hardin County warrant.

After taking Kinder into custody, Kerrick said he contacted St. Matthews Police Department and detectives interviewed Kinder in Meade County.

St. Matthews police ultimately cited Kinder with new charges from Jefferson County and transported him to Louisville Metro Corrections, he said.

According to Metro Corrections, Kinder is lodged in lieu of two $5,000 cash bonds. His next appearance in court is Nov. 26.

According to the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, Kinder was charged with theft by deception in Hardin County after he wrote a cold check for $794.89 on Sept. 14 to Hi Tech Computer Systems in Elizabethtown.

All charges in Hardin and Jefferson counties are felonies, according to Kentucky Revised Statutes.

If a cold check is written for more than $10,000, it is considered a Class C felony, which is punishable by five to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

Kerrick said Kinder has not been charged with impersonating an officer because while he told jewelry store employees he was a sheriff’s office employee, he did not claim he was a deputy sheriff.

“He never worked ... for the Meade County Sheriff’s Office,” Kerrick said. “That’s why I was looking for him for because I wanted to talk to him about that.”

Sarah Bennett can be reached at (270) 505-1750 or sbennett@thenewsenterprise.com.