Almond Brewer was surrounded by Arizona police after a credit union manager questioned the authenticity of an account holder’s check.
Authorities were called to a Black Arizona man who attempted to cash a check he was given after selling a boat. The man, Almond Brewer, went to Pinal County Federal Credit Union in Apache Junction to cash the $3,200 check but was surrounded by police after an executive questioned its authenticity.
According to a local report by 12 News, the incident happened in October 2021 when the credit union manager called 911 — while Brewer waited — and told them the personal check was a fake. The report states that Brewer told the front desk clerk that he received the check after selling his boat to a woman on Facebook Marketplace, “and she looked quite surprised.”
According to the bank, the check had “red flags” such as an old credit union log, as well as a routing and checking account number that did not match the member’s information.
However, after the check was done by a third-party verifier, its authenticity was deemed “inconclusive”, a fact the manager had not told police. When approached by the credit union — after the police were called — the account holder confirmed she had signed the check, but the police didn’t hear it until 10 minutes after their interaction with a stunned brewer.
“It was just, ‘oh, you know, black guy locks in his hair, tattoos, came on a Harley, you know?'” Brewer said. 12 News† “Let’s assume the worst.”
‘Why would you embarrass someone like that? Why, you know, they feel less than a man,’ he wondered later.
In a statement issued in January, Amy Marshall, president and CEO of the Pinal County Federal Credit Union, said that “at no point did the staff feel threatened or feel that Mr. Brewer was trying to rob the credit union.” She noted that the police were already on their way when the manager got his client’s verbal verification and insisted that the staff apologized to both the law enforcement officers who responded and Brewer himself.
They had “seen an increase in fraudulent activity,” Marshall wrote, and their “ultimate responsibility” is to ensure secure accounts. She added that their team is undergoing diversity and inclusion training and said they would review their processes.
“Mr. Brewer, on behalf of Pinal County Federal Credit Union,” she concluded, “I would like to formally apologize for this confusing experience while visiting one of our branches.”
The situation is reminiscent of a recent, now viral incident in which Black Panther CEO Ryan Coogler, who was handcuffed by the Georgia police while trying to withdraw $12,000 from his bank account at a branch of Bank of America.
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