Thousands of people turned out for a crawfish boil for Deputy Clint Greenwood’s family, but now the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether the event was a scam.
BAYTOWN, Texas — Thousands of people turned out for a crawfish boil for Deputy Clint Greenwood’s family over Easter weekend, but now the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether the event was a scam.
“We started hearing grumbling, people talking to us about some alleged fraud with no real formal complaint,” said Sheriff Brian Hawthorne.
Then on Thursday, two members of the event’s 13-person committee came forward. They told investigators they didn’t think all the money raised at the event went to Greenwood’s family or The 100 Club.
“The gentleman they allege caused this fraud is a gentleman by the name of Caleb Warden,” Hawthorne said. “Caleb may have plenty of other debts and receipts that he will be able to explain to the investigators.”
When KHOU 11 spoke to Warden on Monday afternoon, he said he does have those receipts and insisted, in his words, that he “never touched a dollar” of that money.
At least one of the committee’s members refutes that statement. Jason Schofield says Warden had a sack full of cash at the end of the event.
“There was a lot of money that was in that bag,” Schofield said.
Schofield says he and another committee member insisted they count it that night, but Schofield says Warden never let them finish.
“No one knows how much money was actually made that day and what was taken out of it,” Schofield said.
That is what Chambers County deputies hope to learn over the course of their investigation.
“For the money to go anywhere else other than the expenses of the proceeds, I don’t know that a Chambers County grand jury would take that very lightly,” Hawthorne said.
He and Schofield tell KHOU 11 News they hope this investigation leads to some amount of closure for the loved ones Greenwood left behind.
“This family now has to go through this when they should be having time to grieve and mourn right now,” Schofield said.
Photos: Baytown community rallies together to benefit Deputy Greenwood’s family
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