A former sheriff’s deputy is facing charges after he was accused of pretending to be a wedding guest and stealing several gifts at two separate weddings in Arizona.
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On Wednesday, Landon Earl Rankin,54, was arrested and charged with two counts of burglary in addition to possession of fentanyl and methamphetamine while he was taken into custody. Investigators of the Chandler Police Department said he attended the weddings back in April and pretended to be a guest. During the receptions, he would steal the wedding card boxes that contained between $3,000 to $6,000 in each box.
*Press Release*
An investigation into a male who victimized couples on their wedding day, stealing thousands of dollars, has resulted in an arrest. The Chandler Police Department arrested 54-year-old Landon Earl Rankin on May 4, 2022. pic.twitter.com/uUkBZSpAFp— Chandler Police (@ChandlerPolice) May 6, 2022
A video also captured Rankin taking a card box from one of the weddings before fleeing the scene in his vehicle. During his interview with police, Rankin claimed he attended the weddings to hear vows because he was “going through a divorce.”
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Sgt. Jason McClimans said in a statement that there were several other similar crimes that took place within the area. He is currently under investigation for those crimes after four or five other couples reported the thefts to the police.
A more positive wedding crasher story took place last month
Within the same neighborhood, a newlywed couple said they wanted to meet the couple who crashed their wedding. Katey and Saje Lazenby noticed the couple in the photo while going through their wedding photos. Katey also asked relatives on social media if they knew the couple and the post went viral on Facebook.
“Our Alaska people didn’t know who our Arizona friends were and of course, our California cousins might not have known who our Alaskan cousins were. So, it was just funny. Nobody was going to question that they were there. They looked like they actually belonged there.”
Three days after the post was made, the unidentified couple responded and said: “Look no further!. My husband wanted to dance with me and once we realized it was a wedding, we smiled for the camera, finished our dance, and left. It was just such a fun and good-looking time we had to stop in.”
“It’s so perfect because it was somebody that was fun enough to crash a wedding, but also someone fun enough to correspond on Facebook and say, ‘yeah it was us, look at the extra picture,’ Katey said. “It was very fun and lighthearted,” Katey told 12 News. The couple hopes the wedding crashers will accept their invitation for a drink cause they would’ve done the same at someone else’s wedding.
“If I could crash a wedding I would. Sneak in for a dance and leave? Sound great to me,” said Saje to the outlet.