Staff Report

Cameron Nicholas Stepherson

Jourdan Alexander Williams

WARSAW — Two Michigan men were recently arrested in Kosciusko County after allegedly attempting to sell a lift stolen from a Home Depot store in South Carolina.

Cameron Nicholas Stepherson, 25, Oak Park, Mich., is charged with corrupt business influence, a level 5 felony; two counts of theft, both level 6 felonies; and possession of a false government identification, a class A misdemeanor.

Jourdan Alexander Williams, 31, Ferndale, Mich., is charged with corrupt business influence, a level 5 felony; auto theft and theft, both level 6 felonies; and possession of a false government identification, a class A misdemeanor.

On April 8, Kosciusko County Dispatch advised a Warsaw Police officer that a person was attempting to purchase a boom-style lift from a private seller in the Walmart parking lot. The person wanted law enforcement to perform a vehicle identification number check on the lift before he purchased it.

According to court documents, the person met Williams at the Walmart parking lot and said he thought it was odd that the lift was already detached from a vehicle. The lift was parked near the store’s landscape area, shielded by mulch stacks. Stepherson was also at the scene, walking through the parking lot and observing as Williams was showing the lift to the person.

The responding officer spoke with Williams and asked for the lift’s title. Williams allegedly said the type of lift he had doesn’t come with a title and said he and his father purchased the lift in Michigan. Williams did not produce a bill of sale during the incident.

Dispatch checked the VIN and advised it was returning not on file after being ran through multiple states. The man said Williams took the keys from the lift and went into Walmart.

In a discussion with the officer, the man said he found the lift on Facebook Marketplace and began a conversation with the seller about purchasing it. The agreement was to meet in the Warsaw Lowe’s parking lot, with the seller stating he was bringing the lift from Ohio. The man told the seller he would get a money order from his bank to pay for the lift after he had a chance to inspect it, and agreed to pay $12,000.

He attempted to go back into Facebook Marketplace to locate the seller after the situation, but the page had been deleted. Williams was identified as an individual in a video the man received from the seller showing the lift was in working order.

Another responding officer located a folded metal South Carolina license plate on the lift’s trailer, with the plate registered to a Home Depot location in that state. It was also determined the suspect vehicle Williams and Stepherson had been in prior to officers’ arrival had left Walmart. A Home Depot investigator said the store did not grant authority for anyone to sell their lift.

Later that day, a Warsaw officer found the suspect vehicle in the area of Walmart and pulled the vehicle over. A woman was driving and said Stepherson, Williams, and two young children were also in the vehicle.

Upon doing a brief search of the vehicle, officers found several identification cards in the vehicle’s console area. It was determined the cards were fraudulent.

In an interview with law enforcement, Williams said Stepherson is his cousin. He said he was visiting a friend in Warsaw, and that the friend arranged for Williams to pick up the lift in a parking lot in Ohio on April 7.

When asked about fraudulent identification, Williams said a fake ID was made for him and purchased on the dark web. He allegedly told officers he used it to get into a club and knew it was illegal to possess.

In regards to the lift, Williams said he knew he was selling something that did not belong to him and alluded to having sold stolen items in the past.

Stepherson said he used one of the fraudulent identifications in the vehicle to rent a Ford F-250 from a Home Depot store in Ohio. The F-250 was used to transport the lift to Fort Wayne, and Stepherson claimed the Ford F-250 was abandoned in a hotel parking lot in New Haven. Allen County law enforcement located the Ford and said the vehicle was left unlocked without keys inside.

An assistant manager for the Home Depot store in Ohio verified the Ford F-250 was rented and supposed to be returned on April 8. The name the assistant manager provided as the renter was a name found on one of the fraudulent identifications.

Stepherson said Williams told him to come along for the ride and make some money.

The woman said Williams told her they were taking the lift to Warsaw for Williams’ friend, who wasn’t able to tow the equipment.

Stepherson and Williams were both booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on April 8.