The Boston Police Department reports arresting a Dorchester man on charges he ran a bogus charity drive in which kids stood by an intersection asking for donations - which they had no intention of actually giving to a charity.

Booking photoRodrick Pendleton, 46, was arrested around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Columbia Road and E. Cottage Street, when officers spotted him overseeing four kids asking motorists for money.

Police say the kids first told responding officers they were collecting money for "children with HIV and AIDS."

Pendleton then allegedly said he ran an actual charitable group called "International Teensters," but when officers asked for an IRS tax ID number, he supposedly told officers, it was all a fraud and he was just helping the teens get money for sneakers and cell phones.

Police say the officers then re-interviewed his charges, who told them he had them wear special shirts to collect money and that, at the end of the days, they'd split the money.

Pendleton, whom police say was under investigation before last night, was then arrested on a charge of larceny by scheme.