Out here. Out here. Out here. Now. Get on the ground. >> Get on the ground. >> What did I do, sir? >> The bank. You know what I'm talking about. >> What about it? I didn't do anything. >> Get on the ground. >> I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. Okay. >> I mean, a million dollars is a lot of money. Personally, I've never seen a check that big. >> On August 7th, 2025, deputies from the Martin County Sheriff's Office received a call from a bank in Stuart reporting that a man had attempted to cash fraudulent checks. Upon arriving at the bank, the deputies were met by one of the employees who had witnessed the scene. >> All right. >> So, the teller got updated, and then I have the check that this guy presented, but I guess this kind of runs deeper. Usually, it's just like someone running into a scam, but I guess this guy has actually like uh stolen the identity of another individual. Um my loss prevention manager wanted me to call her while you guys are here, so let me call her real quick. >> Do you have any information on this guy? >> She's going to have everything for you. >> Okay. >> I guess she does know his true identity. I guess they've used facial recognition or something to track him down, but I'll let her kind of get into all that. I don't really know much much more than that. But, when he presented this last night, I was like, "Yeah, we're holding that, and that's probably fake." >> Were you here when he came in? >> Yeah, last night. >> Was he wearing anything covering his face? >> He had a hat. Um he was wearing a hat and sunglasses, but we didn't have >> Where were the sunglasses? >> They were asking me if we had any information on this individual who had walked in, so I'm just going to move my phone over to the deputy here. >> Yeah. Hi. Um so, we did run um facial recognition on this individual. We were able to confirm his identity. >> Is this you guys' first run-in with him? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. >> First run-in with him. Never seen the guy before. He just thought he was going to come in, and he established his business, I believe, on 6/18/2025. It was registered on Sunbiz at time. Um and then he just established these business accounts here. I'm not even sure if this is a a real business. Not even I guarantee you this is not a real and a valid check. >> A week later, on August 15th, the man tried again. This time, employees once more alerted authorities who responded swiftly, tracking down the suspect and closing in with no room for escape. >> 2306 Speedway >> Out here. Out here. Out here. Now. Outside. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Inside Speedway. On the ground. On the ground or I'll pop you. I'm going to light you up, but I'm telling you. You move, I'm going to light you up. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. I told you why. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Now. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground or you'll get lit up. You hear me? Minute you move, you'll get popped. You're doing anything, you'll get popped. Go that door. Get on the ground. The bank. You know what I'm talking about. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. >> The man seen here was identified as 38-year-old Mark Anthony Taylor, who attempted to cash a fraudulent $1 million check. On the day of the scheme, Mark tried to move the funds from an account at JP Morgan Chase to an Orlando business he had created. The company was registered under a different name, and the driver's license he used for identification carried that same alias. And at that point, after failing twice in a row, he was finally being caught, forced to realize that his once perfect plan wasn't perfect at all. >> Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. I'm telling you to get on the ground. That's what I'm telling you, and you're not doing it. You're getting on the ground or I'm going to pop you. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. The second you move, you'll get >> popped. Do you understand that? >> Okay, I'm doing it. >> Do you understand that? >> But, sir, what do you I I don't even understand >> Sir, move out of the way. >> I don't understand what you're even what what's going on. >> I just told you what's going on. The bank. Get on the ground. >> Okay, I'm what what about the bank? >> You know what? You know what? What's your name? Your name is Patrick Cooper, don't you know? >> I have no idea what you're talking about. >> Get on the ground. >> Sir, I have no idea what you're talking about. >> Get on the ground. >> I have a fear of heights. >> Why are you why you >> I don't care. Get on the ground. I don't care that you're scared. Get on the ground. >> I didn't do anything. So, why >> Get on the ground. >> I have no idea why you're doing this. >> Get on the ground. >> I didn't do anything, sir. >> Get on the ground. >> I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. >> Take him down. Get on the ground. >> Okay. >> You understand? You understand? >> Listen, I'm going to roll you on your side. I want you to tuck your legs so we can sit you up. Tuck your legs. You ready? We're going to just sit you up for me. You ready? You want to use your arms? I'm going to push you up. Ready? One, two, three, up. >> While deputies at the scene escorted Mark to a patrol car, another deputy headed to the bank to piece together exactly what had unfolded inside. >> No, he's saying he's locked out of online banking and that he had called customer service, and they told him to come in here and to see why or about it so he could get it unlocked. >> And he And did he present you this? Yeah. And then, what spooked him or what made him want to leave? >> The wait. >> The wait. Usually when we have someone that's impersonating that I mean, he waited longer than normal than others. >> How long would you say he waited? >> He waited probably 10 to 15 minutes, something like >> Did he request this back or did he >> He was trying to get it back, but I was saying that I needed to get it looked into. >> I don't mean to make you write, but could you write out a statement, too? Just about what happened because he committed a couple felonies, so just whatever you whatever you saw whatever happened and nothing else, nothing more. >> Okay. 11, right? >> Huh? >> 11, right? >> The what? >> 11. >> It's 11, yeah. >> He was uh I was going by. He was between the doors to the bank and the parking lot over there. Saw me, went towards the light, turned around, I come back around, kept an eye on him coming through here, walked this way, walked over here, went to go that way, come over here, saw me, spun around. So, walking that way, I just walked behind him until he stopped. Got to the door, he bolted out the door. >> All right, man. I'm going to read you rights, okay? So, just listen. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have them present with you while you're being questioned. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning if you wish. You can decide at any time to exercise these rights and not answer any questions or make any statements. Do you understand those rights? >> Yes. >> Okay, so what's going on here? >> Can I ask what am I being charged for? >> Right now you're you resisted us as we detained you based off of what was going on at the bank. >> I didn't resist anything. I didn't resist anybody. >> As far as the sergeant was giving you commands to stop and you didn't listen. >> I didn't I don't understand why it was even being I wouldn't even understand why I was even being uh put in protective custody. >> So tell me tell me what happened with the check. >> Um I'm not sure what you're I'm just a normal guy like I said, a normal guy. I don't know what may or may have been the case with anything. So I have no idea what's going on. >> Mark kept pushing his poor-me narrative, but as the investigation progressed, he began to realize it was over for him. >> You're telling me you don't you never tried to deposit a a check or anything a while back under the name Greg Cooper? Is that your Is that your actual name, Greg Cooper? >> Um like I said, sir, I have no idea what's going on. It's walking the line. >> Right now you're you're being detained for resisting and we're trying to figure out what's going on, okay? He didn't answer any questions really, so. >> He didn't? >> He didn't. He just He just kept saying, "Why am I being detained? Why am I being detained?" I asked him about the check and stuff. He's like, "Yeah." >> What are you talking about? >> Hello. Mark? My name is Jason. I'm W. Clermont from the Sheriff's Office. So I'm the one who originally took the report at MidFlorida Bank when you came up here uh beginning of August. Uh you have that business account, Cooper Legacy Builders. Um you had that $1 million check. And so I'm I'm I'm the one who went to the bank. I ID'd you. We saw you on camera. The bank ID'd you. That Washington driver's license that you have and everything. So the reason that I'm talking to you right now is is I just want I just want to know what Why why were What are that? Like do you need the money? Are you in trouble in any way? I mean, a million dollars is a lot of money. I'm sorry? >> I don't I can't really >> Can't say too much? I mean, do you do you owe people money? I just I personally I've never seen a check that big, so I just I just want to know what you're going you're swinging for the fences first time. Just want to make sure you're not in any trouble or you don't caught up with the wrong people. >> Although Mark no longer denied his guilt, he still wasn't telling deputies the full story, withholding key details even as they tried to help him. But despite his resistance, deputies kept pressing, determined to uncover the full extent of his motives. >> You get you guys speak up a little bit. >> I just I I don't know. I don't I'm not sure what I'm doing. >> Yeah. You can just talk to me. Just tell me tell me why you came up here with uh with the million dollar check and tried to deposit it. I mean, there's there's got to be a reason for it. I I understand being in trouble financially, right? I I do, believe it or not. I've I've had my fair share of ups and downs and I've needed money in certain situations. So, I just want to make sure that everything, you know, wherever you're from is is okay. There's not going to be people looking for you, you're not >> I hope not. >> You hope not. What about Greg Cooper? What's that name to you? You're not sure? How you got that name or anything like that? Let me start by asking you this. Have you been up this way before? Are you from this area? You're from Florida. Okay. Uh you live down in Miami or the Miami area? No? Okay. So, what brought you up this way? Family, friends? Mixture? Who's up here? Like like I said, man, I I just what I don't want to see happen is some bad people get get wind of what happened and now you got a target on your back, right? So I that's why I'm trying to get you to explain to me what what was the motivation? Well, we don't want to make a bad situation worse. Was there Was there a reason you chose a million dollars? The reason it peaks my curiosity, man, is I I've dealt with this a lot, right? People are doing $500 checks, $1,000 checks. When I got the call for your case, like you used to you're swinging for the fences. This isn't It's It's It's out of the ordinary, which kind of raised a red flag, which is why I wanted to talk to you, right? You're not You're not trying to do $100 here, you know, pay off a $1,000 loan shark or something, right? >> Mark remained silent whenever he could, making sure nothing slipped from his lips, but if he believed this would help him in any way, he was deeply mistaken. >> He's being a little greedy with the million or what? What's that? Just made made a bad decision today? Or the other day? All right. And that's fine. People make, you know, people make mistakes. I'm not saying, you know, you're not a you're not a bad guy. You know what I mean? I can't see your eyes. You got your got your shades on, but you don't you don't seem like a bad dude. It just seems like you made a bad decision and you you know kind of got a lot of uh little things stacked up here. So, like the fake IDs and the everything else and So, I mean, it is what it is, man. Can we Can we do anything for you in the meantime? Like lower the AC a little bit? >> Um yeah, for sure. I guess just for waiting for what they told me and what you said to me. Uh as far as that I'll be I'll be I'll be arrested and be detained and uh >> Yeah. All right. Right now you are under arrest. Okay? Um so, so you are under arrested right now, okay? Um What um uh Listen, you you've been nothing but cool with us. Like you you haven't I I don't know what happened before we got here. You've You've been You've You've been You know, you haven't been disrespectful or anything like that. Can we Did you take the car up here so it doesn't get towed? Can we do you a favor? Maybe someone come get it. >> Um I I'll I'll figure it out later. >> Huh? >> I'll I'll figure it out later. >> Okay. >> At this point, deputies had done their best to learn what happened from Mark. But he remained silent, offering only hollow information. And whether he wanted it or not, that behavior wouldn't spare him from facing the harsh consequences of his actions. >> Yeah, how about we I'll take you back. >> Perfect. >> We're We're going to go over to this patrol car here. All right. We'll see about putting them in the front, okay? >> Hey, man. If you want to just do it now, you can. >> What do I do with my keys now? >> All right. You can have a seat. Double lock. I just don't want them tightening up on you. So, I got to push the button on this thing. Yeah, I just I just talked to him. Dropping him off. >> In the end, Mark was charged with a scheme to defraud involving property valued at over $50,000. Unauthorized use or possession of another person's identification, two counts of uttering a forged instrument, possession of a fake driver's license, and possession of an altered ID card.