A Keys con man tried to rent apartments with phony checks and another man’s ID, cops say

A Key West man was arrested on 10 felony charges after police said he stole a man’s identity and wrote fraudulent checks in attempts to rent two apartments.

Daniel Michael Flynn, 40, who is listed as a chef in jail records, last month wrote a counterfeit check as a $5,500 deposit on an apartment on South Roosevelt Boulevard’s Key West By the Sea, signing his name as Chad Fair, police said. Flynn was arrested Oct. 20.

When the bank spotted the check as a fake — it was a promotional balance transfer check — the landlord, Albert Romano, sought his money from the suspect, who had left the premises.

Detectives learned about another case in which a man calling himself Chad Fair who this month had written a $4,000 check for a deposit and first month’s rent on a fake check to rent a Thomas Street apartment.

In this case, Flynn provided part of a Georgia driver’s license, with the photograph not visible, belonging to Chad Fair, to property owner Clarence Waters, police said.

Both checks were written on the account of Mary Fair. The suspect said that was his mother.

Police discovered that a man named Daniel Flynn had warrants out for him from Pennsylvania for using the stolen identity of a man named Chad Fair.

The victims identified Flynn as the man portraying himself as Chad Fair. In the meantime, detectives confirmed with Mary Fair that she had not written any checks for any Key West rentals. They also spoke with Chad Fair who said he knew Flynn and had previously dealt with Flynn stealing his identity.

Police found Flynn at the Thomas Street apartment he had rented with the false checks and brought him in for questioning. At first Flynn continued his claim that he was Fair. But once detectives told him they had spoken with both Chad and his mother Mary Fair, Flynn admitted his real identity.

Mary Flynn, who lives in Georgia, told police Flynn was friends with her son Chad Fair, when the Fairs lived in Pennsylvania.

Flynn is facing four felony fraud charges, three felony charges for impersonating an elderly person, two felony counts for passing false checks and one felony count of forgery for signing a false name.

On Tuesday, Flynn remained in the Stock Island Detention Center on $20,000 bond.