Three charged in $9,700 check forgery

A three-week spending spree with forged checks ended with charges against three Illinois residents.

Most of the more than $9,700 in merchandise purchased with up to 65 checks has not been recovered, detectives said. The three facing charges were arrested Aug. 23 at the Wal-Mart at 3051 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson.

The checks ranged from $9.71 to a Cape Girardeau convenience store to $753 at the Jackson Wal-Mart, said trooper Frank Sullivan of the Illinois State Police.

Ashley N. Freeman, 19, and Gus Stell, 32, of both of Jonesboro, Ill., face felony forgery charges in Cape Girardeau County. Thomas M. Glaab, 24, of Anna, Ill., was charged with misdemeanors for possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia, was arrested along with Freeman and Stell.

A fourth person, Elizabeth Hayden of Jonesboro, was arrested but released pending filing of charges.

The investigation began when the owner of the checks, which were stolen during a break-in July 30 at M&H Millworks in Dongola, Ill., began receiving notices about bounced checks, Sullivan said. Numerous checks written at Cape Girardeau businesses were included, he said, so he contacted Cape Girardeau and Jackson detectives.

Everyday items

"A majority of the things they bought are the things you and me go shopping for every day," Sullivan said. "There were electronic items and DVDs, but they also bought diapers, baby formula and lice remover."

Detectives planned to work through surveillance tapes to identify the forgers, Jackson Lt. Rodney Barnes said, when a call came in from Wal-Mart that they were back.

According to a probable-cause statement filed with the charges against Freeman, the store rejected a check she had written when it came back as a closed account with stolen checks.

The scale of the spending and the number of checks make the case unusual for the area, Barnes said.

Most of the checks were written in Cape Girardeau, but the largest checks were passed in Jackson, officers said. "They began writing them for amounts that most people would go out and normally buy," Barnes said. "As they progressed along further, the amounts went up. They must have realized time was running out."

Officers currently know about 38 forged checks from the victim's checkbook that were passed in Cape Girardeau, detective Brad Smith of the Cape Girardeau police said. The cooperation across state lines and the response at Wal-Mart helped make the investigation a success, Smith said.

In many cases, multiple check forgery cases come in one or two checks at a time, he said. "It was our good luck to get them all at one time," he said. "If we didn't work together we would still be trying to weed this stuff out."

Officers warned the public that protecting checkbooks and debit or credit cards is the responsibility of both the account holders and retailers. Prompt reporting of stolen checks or cards can limit their use, they said, and retailers who demand identification are less prone to loss.

"Retailers should always check identification with checks," Barnes said. "It will save them a lot of headaches."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126