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Man allegedly vandalizes own truck, tries to blame Black Lives Matter supporters

By Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Sept 22, 2015

A Whitney, Texas, man is accused of vandalizing his own truck with "Black Lives Matter" and anti-police graffiti in an attempt to collect insurance money.

According to KDFW, disabled veteran Scott Lattin claimed Sept. 8 that vandals had spray-painted the phrases on his family's pickup truck in retaliation for the pro-police messages displayed on his vehicle and property. Community members and supporters rallied to help the family, contributing nearly $6,000 to a now-disabled GoFundMe page started by a relative.

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But Whitney police said they noticed some inconsistencies in Lattin's story after an interview with him aired on KDFW. The news report showed damage to the inside of Lattin's vehicle that wasn't there when officers initially responded, prompting police "to take the investigation into a different direction," said Police Chief Chris Bentley.

Lattin was arrested Friday and charged with making a false police report. Although an affidavit said he admitted to damaging the inside of the car, Lattin told KDFW, "That's absolutely not true!" Lattin's wife, Cindy, and 18-year-old son, Jason, also were arrested Monday.

Bentley urged people to stop giving money to the family and said donors should contact police to try to get their money back.

"One of the social media pages said, ‘My husband is an officer. I can give you $25 because that's all I can afford,'" he said. "That just ripped at my heart."

>> Click here to watch a video report from KDFW

Truck Vandalism Case/Incident Referred to Hill County AttorneyWHITNEY, TX – CASE UPDATE on Friday 9/18/2015 officers...

Posted by Whitney Police Department on Friday, September 18, 2015

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