OPD: School teacher and her husband charged with buying luxury vehicles with fake checks

Ocala Star-Banner (FL)

An elementary school teacher and her husband have been arrested by law enforcement officials after being accused of purchasing two high-end vehicles with counterfeit checks.

The vehicles — a 2023 BMW X7 and a 2023 GMC 2500 Denali — were purchased on the same day at separate Ocala dealerships, according to the couple's arrest reports.

Ocala Police Department officials said the teacher, Amy Joy Patton, gave a certified check of $101,407.36 for the BMW on Nov. 14. The check included taxes and fees for the luxury vehicle, whose sticker price was $95,562.85.

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Patton, 49, of Homosassa, left after the transaction. Four days after the sale, employees at the dealership were told that the check wasn't valid. The vehicle was tracked to Brooksville, local officials said.

Second vehicle

During the investigation, officers were told that 49-year-old Homosassa resident Michael Aaron Patton presented a similar counterfeit check at another Ocala dealership on Nov. 14.

The check, which included taxes and fees, was for $110,083.28. The vehicle was valued at $102,605. Officials at that dealership were told on Nov. 17 the check was not good. That vehicle was located in Hernando County.

Police officials identified the man and woman from information provided to both dealerships.

Ocala officers contacted the Hernando County Sheriff's Office for assistance in finding the vehicles. Hernando officials found the man in a store parking lot in Brooksville and arrested him on Nov. 18.

The BMW was found at Brooksville Elementary School where Patton's wife works as a teacher by Hernando officials, OPD officers said. She was also taken into custody on Nov. 19.

Facing charges of organized fraud, grand theft of a motor vehicle and passing counterfeit bank checks, the couple has been released from jail on bail, Ocala police officials said.

Contact Austin L. Miller at [email protected].