Man Arrested for Trying to Scalp Thunder Playoff Tickets

Originally Published: Apr 30, 2010 11:25 AM CDT

Jon Jordan
Special Contributor to Oklahoma Sports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Before the start of game four between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Oklahoma City Police arrested 19-year-old Calvin Berman for trying to scalp a playoff ticket.

According to Police, Berman was selling at least one ticket for $200 dollars, well above the face value of 40 dollars.

"It is illegal to sell any ticket in Oklahoma 50 cents over face value," said Sargent Jennifer Wardlow, a spokesperson with the Oklahoma City Police Department.

At the time of his arrest, police also confiscated three additional tickets. The tickets were located in section 320 seats Q 16, 17, and 18. The police report states that the remaining "three tickets...were presumed to be involved in further ticket scalping."

As for online scalping on sites such as Craigslist, police say that too is illegal but, because the trade is so large, they only go target those suspects once they have received a complaint. So far police say they have not received a single complaint for online scalping.

In light of the playoffs, Oklahoma City Police say they have stepped up patrols around the Ford Center using undercover officers to try and catch people illegally scalping tickets.