Florida valet at Disney World hotel allegedly found guest's checkbook, tried to cash in: affidavit
A valet employee assigned to a Walt Disney World Resort was recently arrested for allegedly finding a guest's checkbook and attempting to cash in, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
A valet employee assigned to a Walt Disney World Resort was recently arrested for allegedly finding a guest's checkbook and attempting to cash in, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Mason Reid Henrichsen, who worked as a valet at Disney World's Animal Kingdom Villages, was arrested and booked into jail under suspicion of grand theft by fraud and forgery of a check, the arrest affidavit said.
The backstory:
According to the arrest report, a woman called the Orange County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 3 after her bank alerted her to four suspicious transactions, where someone had written four checks attempting to withdraw money from her account.
The four checks varied in amounts between $98 and $670, totaling $1,248, the report said.
The woman said the checks were written to someone named Michael Henrichsen, someone she did not know, the report said. Detectives determined that there was someone by that name who worked as a valet at the hotel.
That person was not a direct Walt Disney World employee, but worked for the valet company, Towne Park, that's contracted with Disney.
Detectives talked with Henrichsen who said he found a blank check in the parking lot and "decided to write it out to himself for $88." He said the check appeared to be a business check.
He then deposited the check via an ATM at a bank near Disney Springs, he said, according to the report. He said he attempted to decline the transactions and that no money was deposited.
The woman told OCSO that she was visiting from Ohio and arrived at Disney's Kidani Village on Nov. 29. She did not notice any forced break-in to her vehicle, but did notice that her checkbook was missing, the report said.
Henrichsen was arrested and booked into jail. OCSO said it was going to forward the case on to its Economic Crimes division.
What they're saying:
Disney deferred comment to the third-party business. Towne Park released a statement to FOX 35 on Friday.
"We are aware of the situation, and the actions of this individual are not consistent with our business conduct policy or values. We are cooperating with authorities, launched an internal investigation, and this individual is no longer employed by the company. Because this is an active matter, we cannot comment further."
