Pittsburgh Police: Anthony 'Tooth' Hines, Dominic Fields Arrested
POSTED: 3:54 am EDT March 15, 2010
UPDATED: 1:53 pm EDT March 19, 2010
PITTSBURGH -- Two men accused of orchestrating a fake kidnapping plot that extorted $10,000 from Pittsburgh police have surrendered.
Anthony "Tooth" Hines, 25, of Pittsburgh, and Dominic Fields, 23, of Wexford, were wanted on charges of theft by extortion, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and criminal conspiracy.
On Thursday, both surrendered to police.
"I'm innocent. Is that what you all want to hear?" Fields said while being escorted from police headquarters late Thursday night.
On Sunday morning, Fields’ father, David Fields, reported his son was kidnapped, prompting a large-scale response from Pittsburgh police and SWAT officers.
It turned out Dominic Fields had a debt to settle and decided to use money from the city that was demanded as ransom, according to Pittsburgh police.
Video - 
Watch Tara Edwards' Report"It was just a big waste of time, some man hours and some investigative funds that are just out there," Assistant Chief Maurita Bryant said.
When David Fields went to police headquarters at 11 a.m. Sunday, he told them he received a call within the previous hour from his son's cell phone. The caller told the father that his son had been kidnapped and the caller demanded a $50,000 ransom, or else Dominic "Big Boy" Fields would be killed, police said.
Police said the father tried to reach his son and asked relatives about his son's whereabouts, but he wasn't able to locate him. Relatives said they last saw Dominic Fields leaving Trappers Club in East Liberty. The father told police he believed someone was holding his son hostage at the time of the call.
Police said the suspected kidnappers repeatedly called David Fields, making threats on his son's life if the money was not delivered. Authorities set up a plan for the father to deliver a package containing $10,000 with a tracking device to a location on Frankstown Avenue in Homewood.
Police said the father delivered the package and left the area, after which time, two men picked up the package and ran into an apartment building a few blocks away on Kelly Street. Police said the men escaped the building before SWAT officers arrived.
The suspected kidnappers called the father again, demanding the remaining sum of the ransom money and again threatening to kill Dominic Fields, police said. After a short while, the father received no further calls.
At about 11 p.m., police said the father received a call from his son, who police said admitted that he was not kidnapped and that he just needed money. Police said David Fields told his son to turn himself in to police.
"Through their conversation, the son admitted he just needed some money and didn't know what to do, and 'I didn't think you were going to call police,' that type of thing," Bryant said.
At about 2 a.m., police said Dominic Fields contacted police and told detectives that "he owed some people some money and was scared."
Dominic Fields is being held at the Allegheny County Jail on a $10,000 bond. A court hearing for Fields is scheduled for next week.
In addition to the missing money, police are also searching for a third and possibly a fourth suspect in the case.
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