Think you saw a rock star? Better look again

Clearwater police waded into a crowd of Creed fans to arrest a man they call a scam artist.

CLEARWATER - People on Clearwater Beach have been star-struck.

Over the past few weeks, a man staying at beach hotels has been saying he is Mark Tremonti, the lead guitarist of the rock band Creed. The man has handed out and autographed copies of publicity photos of the band. He has attracted packs of more than 30 music fans around him at beach bars.

And he has gotten plenty of free drinks, meals and hotel rooms. One woman even took him home, along with some friends.

But he is not Mark Tremonti. He is, in fact, a nomadic 40-year-old man who has racked up more than 60 arrests in Florida over the last decade - many for scamming and swindling, police said.

Though the man has more than 30 aliases, Clearwater police said his real name is Peter Eckenrod. He does have a slight resemblance to Tremonti, though he is 11 years older than the guitarist.

Clearwater police have arrested him twice in the past month, most recently Sunday on felony charges of fraudulent use of a credit card and scheming to defraud. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Monday in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Police said Eckenrod charged almost $1,000 on a credit card he stole from the woman whose house he visited. Using his claim to fame, he also persuaded a bartender to charge almost $160 to a hotel room where he wasn't staying.

When police arrested Eckenrod Sunday morning, he told officers: "It's my hustle. I am a stone-cold alcoholic and it's my way of getting my drinks and a place to stay," a police report states.

He later told police: "This is getting old, but you have to admit I do look like the guy from Creed."

Eckenrod also has told people he is the son of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Clearwater officers first encountered him April 9 after an employee at the Adams Mark Hotel grew suspicious. Surrounded by a throng of about 30 people, Eckenrod had ordered almost $160 in food and drinks, then charged them to a room. But employees discovered the people in that room didn't know Tremonti. They called police.

Officers found Eckenrod at the lounge at the Radisson. As police led him back to the Adams Mark, he admitted he wasn't Tremonti.

Eckenrod spent 13 days in jail before he pleaded no contest to charges of defrauding an innkeeper and obstruction. He was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to repay the hotel.

The night of his release from jail, he was back on the beach running the same scam, police said.

This time he was at the Hilton, again posing as Tremonti. Word spread, and a group gathered around him. Fans downloaded photographs of the band from the Internet, which Eckenrod autographed.

With copies of the photos in hand, Eckenrod headed to three other beach bars, telling employees he was Tremonti and handing out photos.

One of the patrons Eckenrod met during the crawl was a Clearwater Beach woman who invited him to her home. The next morning, the woman was kissing Eckenrod when he apparently reached into her back pocket and slipped out her check card, the woman later told police.

After leaving her home, Eckenrod used the card to charge a hotel room, clothes, food and booze. The total bill came to nearly $1,000, police said. When the woman realized her card was missing, she knew something was amiss and called police.

On Sunday, the woman saw Eckenrod at Britt's Grill. As she called police, Officer Chris Ziermann was rolling by in his police cruiser. He noticed a large crowd gathered outside the bar.

In the middle was Eckenrod, signing autographs. Ziermann arrested him. The crowd dispersed.

"The crowd thought it was him," Ziermann said Monday. "I think they were kind of taken aback that he wasn't from Creed."

Eckenrod told officers he would probably commit the same crime again if he's released from jail.

"That's basically what he does," said Detective Faye Wilkinson. "He's a scam artist."

- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright