‘I routinely pretend to be an Army Ranger.’ His Secret Service Friend Helped Take Down A Former Roommate Who Ripped Him Off

You should never steal anything from anyone, BUT if you happen to steal from someone who has connections, you’re really gonna be in trouble.

That’s the lesson in this story that someone was nice enough to share and we hope you’re ready for an epic revenge tale!

Take a look at what this guy had to say…

“Just a quick history to set the stage – At a younger age I moved from Chicago to Baltimore to take a job with the Federal Government.

When I started, I hit it off with a couple guys, who’ve since become my best friends. We all lived together for about 5 years until one by one we started moving on, getting married, etc. One guy (we’ll call him Jon), left our place of employment to take a job as a Secret Service Agent.

As everyone went their separate ways I thought I’d make a smart decision as a young professional and buy a house….in 2007….right before the financial collapse. Needless to say, immediately after buying I was upside down big time and struggling. I had some other co-workers move in, but they only lasted about a year before abruptly moving out, leaving me scrambling to find a roommate, and thus setting the stage for my revenge story…

Times were tough and they needed help with rent and bills.

I ended up posting on a bunch of venues to find the new roommate. One guy ended up far and above the best option (we’ll call him Russell). Russell was a military Vet, who had served a couple tours Down Range, and was now a sous-chef at a local restaurant.

He was easy to get along with so I pulled the trigger in haste without doing the proper checks I should have, primarily due to being in a desperate financial situation.

Something wasn’t right with this guy…

The first sign something was off was when Russell moved in. He came with just a couple boxes and a TV…no bed, furniture, etc. The next clue came from in me chatting him up about his time in the Military. On the surface he could talk the talk, but as I got more nuanced, his answers became more…well, wrong.

He claimed to be a former Ranger, so he would have known the topics discussed. The final clue was the classic one..he started making excuses for rent payment on month two. By this time I knew something was not right, so I politely told Russell to move out, which he did immediately.

And then came the big shocker.

Once gone, I went to Home Depot to buy new locks, and much to my surprise my debit card didn’t work. Come to find out, Russell had stolen a check book and cleaned me out. Every cent I had in my account was gone.

At this time I’m feeling a mixture of anger, fear of not being able to pay my mortgage, and disappointment in myself for not vetting him properly. When I ended up telling Jon he was livid. He wanted every detail about the situation.

This liar/cheat was messing with the wrong people.

Little did I know, Jon told all his co-workers and they immediately opened a case on Russell (for those of you who don’t know the Secret Service also deals with financial/economic crimes, albeit normally on a much larger scale than my savings account).

Within a few days, Secret Service Agents had tracked down and interrogated/arrested all the individuals who had cashed the fake checks on Russell’s behalf. One turned and advised Russell would be at the Last Resort at the Baltimore Inner Harbor that night.

This was going to be an epic takedown.

Jon and his crew changed into plain cloths and went there to wait. Lo and behold, Russell shows up and acts like he owns the place. He started announcing that he was leaving on a deployment to Iraq so he wanted to buy the entire bar drinks (with my money, I should add). As he was standing there paying for everyone’s drinks, Jon stood up and screamed “SECRET SERVICE, YOUR UNDER ARREST!”

Three Agents slammed him down, cuffed him, and pulled him out where 2 black SUVs rolled up on the board walk to take him away. My other friend who had gone to observe said the entire restaurant paused in stunned silence for about 30 seconds.

Turns out this guy wasn’t so tough after all…

They take Russell in and by this time Jon says he’s bawling his eyes out. The best part of the ordeal, was Jon made him add in his written confession “I routinely pretend to be an Army Ranger, but have never served.” Before being taken to the City jail, Russell asked Jon “why did the Secret Service arrest me?” To which Jon replied “You robbed the wrong guy.”

And it all ended well…except for Russell…

Epilogue: The bank ended up giving me all my money back very quickly under a fraud claim. I ended up attending Russell’s court appearance with Jon, where he took a plea and spent 6 months behind bars. Needless to say, I was bit more careful in choosing my next roommate; we’ve been happily married for five years.”

Now let’s see what Reddit users had to say about this.

One reader made a good point.

This individual shared a surprising story about the Secret Service.

Another individual is not buying this story AT ALL.

One reader is also having a hard time buying this tale.

And one Reddit user thinks this guy needs to marry Jon.

Whoa!

I guess it pays to know people, huh?

That’s an understatement!