Man sought for trying to pass fake checks
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on July 24, 2009 1:46 PM
Wayne County financial crimes detectives are looking for a man passing counterfeit Wayne County Tax Office checks to area businesses, authorities said.
Detectives Tom Flores and Mike Kabler said they suspect the man has been involved in more than one incident.
However, they have the most solid evidence from one incident, the detectives reported.
Gary Bevell of EZ Mart on U.S. 117 South reported Wednesday that a black male presented him with a check that turned out to be counterfeit.
Bevell cashed the check, which he reported looked like an authentic locally issued tax refund check, for $235 when the male suspect bought a fishing pole from the business, according to the report.
The suspect took the $208.27 cash difference between the price of the pole and the total check amount, detectives said.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in identifying the male, whose face is clearly visible in a still frame taken from EZ Mart's surveillance video camera.
The suspect is described as a black male, about 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 2 inches tall, approximately 200 pounds, with a medium complexion. Authorities estimated his age is between 35 and 45 years old.
Authorities said one mistake made by an EZ Mart clerk was to accept the check without verifying the man's driver's license number.
The suspect in this case had written a phony license number on the check before handing it to the EZ Mart clerk, and the clerk did not verify the information, authorities said.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 735-2255, or either Flores or Kabler at 919-731-1480.