Police confirmed he had a fraudulent check and uncovered a couple of other alleged crimes, said Lexington Police Department spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts.
She said Hammons had allegedly been converting gift cards into credit cards using a credit card conversion machine and several stolen credit card numbers. He had also been living in a vacant house in Lexington.
Lexington police then discovered he had “a lot” of parachutes from Start Skydiving in Middletown, Roberts said. Middletown police Lt. Scott Reeve said authorities recovered 12 parachutes, three skydiving suites, a helmet camera and a GPS unit — valued at about $250,000 — from Hammons.
Hammons allegedly broke into the Start Skydiving at 1711 Run Way between 9:35 p.m. Dec. 20 and 7:30 a.m. Dec. 21.
Police said someone had used a large pry bar to open the front door of the business and electrical wiring had been cut to the control panel at the runway.
Middletown Municipal Court issued a bench warrant for a fifth-degree felony of theft.
Lexington police have charged Hammons with several Kentucky felonies. They include burglary for living in the vacant home, possession of a forged instrument, possession of a forgery device and unlawful access to computer information.
Hammons is also being charged in Lexington for receiving stolen property pertaining to the stolen parachutes, Roberts said.
Hammons was critically injured in a skydiving accident in March 2010 at Hook Field in Middletown after an apparent error caused him to hit the ground at a high speed. He was a member of Team Fastrax, the parachuting team at Hook Field, and completed nearly 2,000 jumps during his first three years with the team.
Hammons suffered trauma to his head, broken eye sockets, upper jaw bone and femur, and extensive bruising.
Hammons is set to appear in court in Lexington, Ky. Friday for a preliminary hearing. He is set to be arraigned on an unrelated traffic violation June 25.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Follow at
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