He turned himself in to police
The host of television show To Catch a Predator, Chris Hansen, has been arrested after turning himself in to police in Stamford, Connecticut. He was then released after promising to appear in court.
Hansen is accused of issuing bad checks and failing to pay a Connecticut vendor almost $13,000 for marketing materials.
He was charged by police on Monday with issuing fake cheques. He is alleged to have failed to pay Peter Psichopaidas, the owner of Promotional Sales Limited, the sum of $12,998.05, as reported by the Stamford Advocate.
Police say Hansen had agreed to pay for his order from Promotion Sales Ltd before delivery in September 2017. The order included 355 ceramic mugs, 288 T-shirts and 650 vinyl decals.
But the cheque he used bounced, prompting Psichopaidas to file a complaint in April 2018, at which point he was still awaiting payment from Hansen.
Psichopaidas said Hansen later agreed to make four payments and said his wife would give him a cheque, but police have denied this.
Investigator Sean Coughlin warned Hansen that if he did not pay Psichopaidas, he could face being arrested for larceny.
“I told Chris that I understood that he may have trouble, but that nearly $13,000 is a lot of money to a ‘mom-and-pop’ business and it is not fair that he accepted the material but hasn’t paid for it,” the statement seen by The Advocate said.
In late April of last year, Hansen issued another cheque. It bounced.
When Psichopaidas asked Hansen for an explanation, the former To Catch a Predator host replied: “Peter… I truly thought I had this covered. I am scrambling to get it done. Please give me till the end of the day. I sold a boat to cover the rest of this and need to pick up the payment this afternoon.”
No cheque came through and a warrant was issued for Hansen’s arrest.
Hansen’s show To Catch a Predator was cancelled in 2008 but repeats continue to air. The show features adults posing online as underage people, normally between the ages of 12-15, to lure ‘potential sexual predators’ into a trap.
