Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors goes up for a shot against LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first half in Game 2 of the 2016 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 5, 2016 in Oakland, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Bob Donnan)
A Cobb County man was arrested outside Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena after selling three fake tickets for $2,100 to Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
According to Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia with Cleveland police, the 27-year-old, Matthew Cubbage had managed to sell three tickets to a Pennsylvania man outside the arena on Friday night during Cleveland Cavaliers-Golden State Warriors game.
One fan, Robert Williams told police he negotiated with Cubbage before agreeing to pay $700 each for the tickets, Ciaccia said.
Police say that Williams took a time-stamped picture of Cubbage before he walked away. It was that picture that made Cubbage arrested, who had more fake tickets to sell, AJC reported.
Williams and two others were denied access into the arena because the tickets were fake. He ended up sharing the picture of the man who sold him the tickets with a nearby off-duty Cleveland officer working at the arena.
The officer shared the photo with other officers within the area, and Cubbage was seen.
"Anyone in need of tickets?" Cubbage allegedly said as a plain-clothes police officer walked by.
According to Daily Mail, he was arrested while allegedly trying to sell more tickets.
Cubbage, who had other nine fake tickets, claimed had purchased the tickets for $275 each and believed they were real, according to the authorities.
He was charged with theft by deception and trademark counterfeiting. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
On Monday, Cubbage waived his first court appearance and his case was bound over to the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury where a bond of $25,000 was set.
The 2016 NBA Finals which are in progress have seen the Golden State Warriors rebounded from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Warriors who are the defending champions are just one win from defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers again to defend their NBA title.
The Cavs defeated Golden State Warriors 112-97, on Monday in Game 5 at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
The Finals will come back to Cleveland for Game 6 on Thursday 17 9 p.m.
