Four arrested on check charges
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on January 16, 2005 2:07 AM
MOUNT OLIVE -- Four Hispanic men were placed in the Wayne County Jail without bond Saturday under charges of forging and passing checks from Carolina Turkeys.
They were booked under the name John Doe Saturday night as investigators tried to determine their identity.
Wayne County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Brogden said the men had cashed checks Friday at a Mexican store in Dudley. But when they came back to the same store Saturday and wanted to cash more checks, the clerk grew suspicious and called the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
The men jumped in a van and fled.
The Mount Olive Police Department's patrolmen heard about the van on their radios. They spotted it coming into town. The van was stopped at Bobby Denning Furniture on North Breazeale Avenue.
Mount Olive Police Chief Emmett Ballree said three or four of his officers and three or four of the deputies chased the men on foot and caught all four of them.
"We just assisted them in the apprehension," said the chief.
"The Mount Olive Police Department was instrumental in helping us apprehend them," said Brogden. "Now, we just need to figure out what they were doing."
The investigators found 14 checks, all from Carolina Turkeys, said Brogden.
"We think they will end up being counterfeit checks," he said. "All four of the men had fake identification cards."
Authorities also found 10 ID cards with the men's pictures on them.
The investigators didn't have an interpreter until they took the men to the magistrate's office. Magistrate Allen Jones speaks Spanish, but Brogden said the men lied to him.
They will remain as "John Doe" until investigators can find proper identification. Two of the men appear to be from Raleigh, but investigators don't know where the other two were living.
The men were charged with 12 counts each. Other charges are pending.