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REIDSVILLE — Charles Haley can understand how people fall on hard times. The 52-year-old lives on disability.

So, when he encountered a clean-cut man who said he was Haley's mail carrier and was having car trouble, Haley gave him a ride.

The man also asked for money — first $25 and then $55, after he saw Haley remove some bills from his pocket.

Haley loaned the money, unaware that he had just fallen victim to a person who police are calling a scam artist. "I don't usually loan money, much less give people a ride," Haley said. "He was pretty slick."

Police on Sunday arrested Kenneth Wallace Graves, 330 Hubbard St., and charged him with two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. He was being held Monday in the Rockingham County jail under a $40,000 secured bond.

Haley said he was leaving Sibs grocery on Freeway Drive Feb. 10 when a black man approached him. The man told Haley that he delivered mail along his road. He said he was having tire problems and asked for a ride to his uncle's house.

Haley said the man did look familiar. Although Haley had never seen his mail carrier up close, he knew he was black. Haley said he had also seen his carrier driving a car with the spare tire on, lending credence to the car trouble story.

The man said he would leave money in Haley's mailbox that week, but he didn't.

Meanwhile, Haley did some investigating of his own. He checked with the post office and learned the suspect, who had told Haley his name was Kevin Williams, was not his postal carrier. Haley reported the incident Friday. Police recognized the story as one they say Graves has used in the past to get money.

Graves is also accused of conning a 49-year-old Providence man out of $40 recently.

Reidsville police Capt. Guilio Dattero said Graves was arrested on two fraud charges in September 2007. Court records show that a Kenneth Wallace Graves of 907 Thacker Street pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, was placed on 36 months probation and ordered to pay $62 in restitution — $47 to one victim and $15 to another.

Dattero said Graves uses a "fairly consistent story" to catch off guard people wanting to do a good deed. He identifies himself as a postal worker, drops a sob story about a disabled vehicle and promises to repay the money by leaving it in their mailboxes.

He shows nothing to identify himself as an employee of the U.S. Postal Service.

"We're not aware of any of the trappings that you would think that he's using," Dattero said.

Reidsville police urge anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of similar crimes to call the department at 349-1011.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com