Winder police nab tire scammer

Winder police have charged a man they believe tried to scam females from ages ranging from 60-78 by posing as a car technician who could fix their wobbly tires.

According to Winder police spokesman Chris Cooper, Joe Quick of Norcross, 45, was arrested around midnight Wednesday night. He is charged with two counts of theft by deception, two counts of robbery by intimidation, three counts of criminal attempt to commit a theft by deception and four counts of elder abuse-exploitation.

"We had a total of five victims come forward since our initial press release went out on Monday," Cooper wrote in an e-mail. "Quick had an extensive criminal history of similar offenses in Georgia and Florida and was also found to be on felony probation out of Dekalb County for the same type of crimes. Since our arrest we have gotten calls from several surrounding metro area counties that have experienced similar type encounters reported to them by elderly females and those jurisdictions are also looking at Mr. Quick as a potential suspect."

According to the department's initial release, a suspicious male claiming to be a tire technician may be trying to scam people locally. There have been three separate incidents in recent days where women have come to described similar incidents.

Mike Cain of Bob’s Tire Service in Winder told police that the women came into the shop and asked to have their axles and wheels checked. They all told Cain about the suspicious man who stopped them and told them he thought their right rear wheel was wobbling. The man reportedly told the women they could have a bent axle and offered to repair it for $325.