Columbia's parking manager was arrested Thursday after police received a tip that someone in a Public Works uniform was converting a lot of coins into paper money at a local business.
James Faup, 39, is accused of taking coins out of city parking meters and trying to exchange them for dollar bills. He is suspected of stealing thousands of dollars from multiple city-owned meters, according to a city news release.
He was fired Thursday as parking manager for the city, a job he had held since December 2024. He had also worked for the city as a parking supervisor for more than five years and as a parking enforcement agent for another six years, beginning in February 2013, according to a Linkedin page.
Court records show that Faup pleaded guilty in 2013 to stealing coins from at least three University of Missouri campus parking garages. He was given a 90-day suspended sentence with two years of probation.
In an interview with a Columbia police officer on Jan. 23, 2013, Faup admitted that he had taken up to $500 in quarters from the Turner Avenue Parking Garage, as well as $191 from the parking machines at both the Hitt Street and Virginia Avenue parking garages.
He told the officer he deposited money into his checking account at Commerce Bank and cashed out the $191 in a Coin Star machine. He said the money was used for personal living expenses to meet his family's financial difficulties.
The current investigation is ongoing, and police are working with Public Works on the case. Anyone who has more information is encouraged to contact the Columbia Police Department.
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