5 Charged in Ticket Scam

The tickets were supposedly for an Ozzie Osbourne concert at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre.

At least two of the men allegedly had been selling tickets at the Texaco Food Mart at I-40 and Jones Sausage Road. They were arrested due to the actions of several victims, who had returned to the food mart after having their tickets rejected by concert staffers.

The would-be concert-goers detained the men and called police, who then arrested Christopher M. Beatty, 17, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Derrick Anderson, 24, of the Bronx. They are in Wake County jail, held in lieu of $50,000 bail each.

Also arrested were Augie A. Wallace of Sewell, N.J.; Christian J. Smith of Philadelphia, Pa.; and Charles N. Hightower of 1422 Fayetteville St. in Raleigh. They are being held at the jail in lieu of $100,000 bail each.

Lt. Bob Stevens of the Garner Police Department said the fake tickets were hard to distinguish from real tickets.

One tip: fake lawn seats can be identified if they all have the same seat number.

Staffers at the amphitheater had discovered about 200 counterfeit tickets.

Because the concert was a sell-out, the fans who lacked real tickets had to be turned away.

Concert organizers say fans need to be wary of buying tickets off the street.