*UPDATE* Thomas Hopes was arrested Tuesday morning. He was booked at Craighead County Detention Center at 10:28 AM and remained until he bonded out later that afternoon, at 2:56 PM.
JONESBORO, Ark. – Imagine making a donation of $66.90 and finding out you had been charged sixty-six-ninety, alright – just in the form of $6,690.
It has happened this year in Jonesboro and it’s happened more than once. JPD said on Thursday over $50,000 had allegedly been stolen by one man.
Thomas Hopes, 32, of Jonesboro, appeared in court earlier this year for fraud. It happened after a victim told police he came to her residence in October, 2018, to sell her cleaning supplies for her vacuum. Once he got inside, he charged her $66.90 and then asked her purchase flowers to raise funds for a children’s soccer team, Arkansas Storm. The woman bought two.
Then, her credit card statement arrived in the mail and blew her mind.
A charge of $6,690 was applied to her account for Hopes’ company, ironically named “We All We Got.” Further, on Nov. 9, a charge of $2,800 came in and another charge of $2,300 hit on Nov. 16, both debited by Arkansas Storm Soccer.
This should have been the end of Hopes alleged criminal behavior but with Spring 2019 arriving, police were talking about him once again.
On March 20, 2019, JPD said a Jonesboro woman was approached by Hopes while working in the yard. Hopes advised her that he was selling Kirby vacuum cleaners and wanted to know if she was interested. The woman stated that she already had a good vacuum cleaner and was not interested. Hopes then asked her to participate in a fundraiser for his children’s soccer team for $35. She agreed and gave Hopes her debit card.
When she later received her bank statement, she noticed a charge from Hopes for $1450.
These are only a few of the 24 currently reported unauthorized charges Hopes is alleged to have made from credit cards, debit cards, cash payments, and checks between August 2016 and April 2019.
Hopes has been arrested seven times for charges including the unauthorized use of a credit card, theft, fraud, and more. These numbers only include the charges that have been reported to the Jonesboro Police Department, too. Several surrounding agencies have filed reports in relation to Thomas Hopes including the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office, Greene County Sheriff’s Office, Paragould Police Department and others.
Police say Hopes falsely claims to be a representative of The Kirby Company, a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and home cleaning accessories, based in Cleveland, Ohio. Kirby products are only sold via in-home door-to-door demonstrations. At one time, he did work for them but he has not in over a year. A distributor agreement between The Kirby Company and Hopes was terminated on March 28, 2018.
“Since then, he has deceived many Jonesboro residents with the unauthorized sale of Kirby products.”
The Jonesboro Police Department via Facebook
Hopes was last in the Craighead County Detention Center on April 12, but in the six days since then, he is reported to have stolen over $4500 from yet another Jonesboro citizen using his vacuum sales scam.
He has not learned his lesson and is hitting the streets again to scam citizens through his Kirby products pitch, or the Soccer Team Fundraiser pitch. If you Hopes approaches you or your home and attempts to sell ANYTHING, contact the Jonesboro Police Department or your local law enforcement immediately and, whatever you do, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS MAN EVER.
JPD, via Facebook
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