An Ohio man is demanding an apology after he says bank tellers refused to cash his paycheck from his new job, then dialed police on him after assuming the $1,000 check must be fraudulent.
On Dec. 1, Paul McCowns visited the Huntington bank branch in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn to cash his first paycheck from his job with an electric company where he’d been working for the last three weeks, WOIO News reported. As required by the branch’s policy for non-Huntington customers, McCowns provided tellers with two forms of ID, as well as his fingerprint.
Paul McCowns said he was nearly arrested after trying to cash his first paycheck from his new job. (WOIO / video screenshot)
That’s when the Ohio man said he noticed bank workers start looking at their computer screens and questioning the transaction. Ultimately, they refused to give him his money without speaking with his employer first.
“They tried to call my employer numerous times,” McCowns told the station. “He never picked up the phone.”
He ended up leaving the bank, but little did he know the employees inside had called 911. McCowns said a police squad car pulled up in front of his truck before he could even drive out of the parking lot.
In a 911 audio obtained by WOIO, a bank employee tells the dispatcher, “He’s trying to cash a check and the check is fraudulent. It does not match our records.”
Authorities placed McCowns in handcuffs and seated him in the back of a cruiser as they investigated the matter. Minutes later, he was free to go after officers were able to get in contact with his employer, who confirmed McCowns did indeed work there and was paid what his paycheck listed.
“My employer said, ‘yes he works for me. He just started and yes, my payroll company does pay him that much,’ ” McCowns explained
McCowns called the incident a clear case of racial profiling. A Huntington representative denied this, however, saying its employees were only being extra vigilant because there have been at least 11 cases of fraud at that branch alone.
The bank has since apologized to McCowns and accepted full responsibility for the incident.
“We sincerely apologize to Mr. McCowns for this extremely unfortunate event,” Huntington said in a statement. “Anyone who walks into a Huntington branch should feel welcomed. Regrettably, that did not occur in this instance and we are very sorry. We hold ourselves accountable to the highest ethical standards in how we operate, hire and train colleagues, and interact with the communities we have the privilege of serving.”