NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man has been arrested a second time for allegedly selling fake parking passes in downtown Nashville.
According to an affidavit from Metro Nashville police, Melvin Jarrett Jr. was arrested for selling a fake parking pass back in July. This time, police say they caught him in the act.
Officers spotted him on 4th Avenue South near Broadway talking to a woman in her car when the two made an exchange.
Police approached the woman and discovered he'd just sold her a fake parking pass. They found Jarrett nearby not long after.
When they tried to arrest him, he allegedly took off running.
They chased him and after shouting several times for him to stop, they eventually tased him to the ground near a parking garage on 3rd Avenue South.
He's facing charges for felony counterfeit, resisting and evading arrest and drug charges for having a crack pipe on him.
Jarrett pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge for his July arrest.
Sgt. Michael Warren of the Metro Nashville Police Department Fraud Unit said drivers need to be aware with big events headed to Music City. In many cases, visitors are the ones scammed during special events.
"A lot of our parking is self service parking but a lot of people coming in from out of town has no knowledge of that. When there someone is at the entrance of a parking lot telling them there is a fee due, they have no reason to question that because a lot of them aren't from Nashville and it makes sense because in a lot of cities there are full service parking lots," Warren said.
Of the 185 parking lots in downtown, 135 of them are open spaces. Warren said the department is encouraging the private companies that own the parking lots for better signage.
Meanwhile, he asks people to always look if there is a machine, ask questions and review that the receipt has a time stamp.
Robyn Householder of the Better Business Bureau suggests reading the signs at all times. In some cases, the private company has signs asking drivers to watch out for impostor attendants.
She also advises to read the receipts.
"If you do pay someone, check the receipt they give you, often times the scammer have created a series of receipts that are not valid to the location you've pulled in on," Householder said.
