A Daytona Beach man was arrested on a warrant for allegedly using a fake check for over $1,000 in tools from NAPA Auto Parts.
On Dec. 21, 2023, a report was made online by a loss prevention official regarding fraud at NAPA Auto Parts, located at 1030 E. Hwy. 50, Clermont, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County. The report read that on Dec. 6, 2023, a “Be on The Lookout” was sent over email by the loss prevention team referencing 50-year-old Chad Parker Wax. He was said to be ordering items online and going to the NAPA store locations to buy these items using a check.
On Dec. 14, 2023, the bank confirmed there were a total of four fraudulent checks, including one used at the NAPA location in Clermont. Per the information given by the loss prevention team, Wax used an email and phone number known to be associated with himself as confirmed by a law enforcement database, the affidavit said.
Surveillance video provided by Napa showed Wax entering the Clermont NAPA location at about 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2023. He completed a transaction and left the store about 11 minutes later. The items purchased included a $499 Milwaukee Impact Wrench, a $323.99 Milwaukee Grinder and a $396.99 Dewalt Impact Wrench, the affidavit said.
A copy of the fraudulent check, totaling $1,305.38, and the confirmation it was fraudulent from the bank were attached to the report. The check holder was listed as “C.P.W. INC. 307 S. 10th St., Orlando,” which did not appear to exist. However, Wax was listed as the owner of “CPW Contracting” and “CPW Enterprise.” The check also had his date of birth and social security number handwritten above the check holder’s name, the affidavit said.
Upon receiving this report to review, a detective with the Clermont Police Department noted several other cases involving Wax at other NAPA locations in Florida. On Oct. 20, 2023, he was charged with uttering a false check by the Port Orange Police Department after he paid for items at a Napa location using a fraudulent check. He was also listed as a suspect in an uttering false check case at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store in Deland on Nov. 5, 2023, the affidavit said.
On Nov. 6, 2023, Wax was listed as a suspect in a grand theft case involving a fraudulent check used at a lawn and garden equipment store in Edgewater. On Nov. 16, 2023, the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office arrested him for grand theft and uttering a false instrument after he paid for items at a NAPA location using a fraudulent check. He was listed as a suspect in a worthless check case at a NAPA store in Jacksonville on Dec. 2, 2023, as well, the affidavit said.
Per Wax’s criminal history, he was awaiting trial in Volusia County for organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and uttering a forged instrument at the time of the affidavit. He was also awaiting trial in St. John’s County reference the aforementioned arrest.
Wax also had a significant criminal history in his home state of Georgia. In 1993 and 1994, he was convicted of forgery 1st degree. In 2003, he was again convicted on the same charge. He was convicted of theft by deception and deposit account fraud/bad checks in 2006, the affidavit said.
In 2016, Wax was convicted of deposit account fraud. He was also convicted of printing, executing, negotiating checks and forgery 4th degree that same year. In 2017, he was convicted of identity theft, and he was convicted of theft by deception, forgery in 2018. He was convicted of theft by deception, forgery and identity theft fraud in 2020, the affidavit said.
The report also included a booking photo of Wax in which the detective was able to positively identify him as the subject on surveillance video, the affidavit said.
Wax was ultimately arrested in Wakulla Correctional Institution on a warrant charging him with grand theft and uttering forged check Thursday morning. He was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $5,000.