Think Twice Before Buying a TV From "Plasma Pat"

Largo police, via CNN.com

Joseph Wesley Torma, aka "Plasma Pat," ran a racket near Tampa, Florida, wherein he'd approach Wal-Mart customers outside the store, claim to be a store employee, and offer to share his employee discounts to purchase televisions for the victims. Once accepted, Torma would take cash from the would-be bargain shoppers and walk into the store — then promptly vanish.

After news broke of the scam, Torma called police to offer that his motivation stemmed from his wife being sick and their financial problems.

"You know, I've been married 44 years to this woman, you know? So I got homeless and did a few bad things," he said. "We lost our home, we lost our car, we lost everything we had, we had nowhere to live."

Torma also confessed his fears that his children would find out about his capers, adding, "They think I hustle. They think I play poker, they think that's all I play, you know."

Authorities aren't explaining why, but have reason to believe that Torma might target Texas as his next venue for duping unsuspecting shoppers.