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4 Arrested In Fontana For Running 'Bury My Dead Baby' Scam

FONTANA (AP) — Four people have been arrested in Fontana after allegedly running a panhandling scam that asked for funeral donations for a baby that netted up to $1,400 a day.

The Press-Enterprise reports that passers-by grew suspicious after repeatedly seeing a destitute mother holding a sign that read "funeral donations" with a picture of a baby on it.

Sgt. Billy Green says officers investigated on Monday and found 21-year-old Heather Nichols on the corner.

Green says Nichols admitted that the whole thing was a scam that she and three others had worked on corners in Southern California and Arizona.

Nichols said she didn't know the identity of the baby in the picture.

The others arrested in the alleged scam were 23-year-old Catherine Mendez, 20-year-old Chastity Doll and 26-year-old Jamari Carter.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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