STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. -- A Stafford car dealership is in the national spotlight after calling 911 on the Florida "teen doctor" who was allegedly trying to con an older woman into buying a new luxury car.
19-year-old Malachi Love-Robinson of West Palm Beach was arrested at Kargar Motors on Jefferson Davis Highway around 5 p.m. Friday.
Kargar Motors
He walked onto the lot with a 73-year-old woman with hopes of purchasing a 2013 Lexus 350, according to General Manager Mike Hickman.
“He fooled me at first,” Hickman said. “He’s really good. He’s a con artist.”
Mike Hickman
Hickman said the teenager told his salesman that he was a doctor with his own practice in Florida.
“It says in his credit report that he’s a physician,” he said. “A 19-year-old physician, I thought that was impressive.”
Stafford County Sheriff’s Office said Love-Robinson claimed the 73-year-old was his mother who agreed to co-sign on the car.
“My main concern was the lady. She didn’t know what she was doing,” Hickman said. “The poor lady was basically disabled, she couldn’t walk and she was on a walker. She couldn’t even climb the steps.”
The dealership gave WTVR CBS 6 an August pay stub provided by the teen that showed he had made more than $90,000 to date. But, the business address is the same as the one listed for a Walmart in West Palm Beach.
“His story kept changing every time,” Hickman said.
Love-Robinson at the dealership.
Josephina Morris, the finance director, said a salesman eventually recognized the teenager from the news.
“A salesman said, ‘a 19 year old doctor?’ That was a story a couple months ago,” Morris said. "We Googled him and sure enough this kid came up and that was him.”
After Love-Robinson briefly left the dealership, Hickman said he called him back explaining he was approved for a car and to return.
The teen didn’t know that the general manager had also called 911 and Stafford County deputies were waiting inside the business to arrest him.
Stafford Sheriff’s Office spokesman Major Don Lenhart said the older woman was the teen’s distant relative from Skipper, Virginia, who was unaware of the teen’s plans.
Love-Robinson's arrest
“She advised [deputies] she had no intentions of doing so,” Lenhart said. “[Deputies] then showed her the credit application Mr. Love-Robinson had completed that had her information including her social security number listed on it. Her demeanor then changed and she stated she had not given permission to him to use her as a co-signer for this loan or any other.”
The teen also gave the dealership receipts from the T-Mobile on the Midlothian Turnpike in Midlothian for iPads and iPhones purchased with the woman’s credit card totaling $1,200.
Love-Robinson was charged with Identity Fraud, False Statements to Obtain Credit, and Obtaining Money by False Pretenses. He is being held at Rappahannock Regional Jail with no bond.
Love-Robinson
