Miami-Dade police have arrested a walking vendor at Hard Rock Stadium after he was found to have charged a fan $724 (£591/€663) for two beers during Sunday’s NFL American football game between the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers.
Nathaniel Collier was found to have used a personal card reader, and not the device issued to stadium vendors, when taking payment from the fan. Following the transaction, the fan received notification from his bank of an unusually large payment, which also displayed the name of the vendor, alerting him to the scam.
Collier, who now faces charges of grand theft and using a skimming device, was not employed by either the Dolphins or Hard Rock Stadium. Centerplate, which manages the stadium’s concessions, said he was instead hired by Rocket Man, a Kentucky-based subcontractor that employs walking vendors at major sporting events and concerts.
The fan has received a full refund. Rocket Man said in a statement issued to the Miami Herald newspaper: “As the chosen provider of walking vendors across dozens of stadiums, we take the matter of security extremely seriously, and train and monitor our vendors to safeguard our customers.
“Our onsite supervisor contacted the authorities immediately upon learning of the overcharge on what was Mr. Collier’s unauthorised personal device.”
The Dolphins have endured a wretched start to the 2019 season, with Sunday’s 30-10 defeat to the Chargers leaving the team with a 0-4 record. Hard Rock Stadium is scheduled to host this season’s Super Bowl on February 2.
Image: Miami Dolphins
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