Police Arrest 4 in Orange and L.A. in Forgery Ring Operation

Four people suspected of operating a forgery ring from their Los Angeles apartments have been arrested, police announced Friday.

Three people were arrested in Orange on Thursday afternoon after they tried to write a check for more than $1,400 worth of computer equipment at a department store, police said.

Armed with search warrants, Orange police on Friday morning raided two Los Angeles apartments, arresting a fourth person and confiscating suspected stolen credit cards, computer equipment and laser printers that allegedly were used to produce phony checks and identification.

Booked on suspicion of burglary, forgery and receiving stolen goods were Robert W. Haynes, 29; Christopher Spychalla, 30; Frances DeFrancisco, 29; and Belinda G. Germano, 31, said Orange Police Lt. Trey Sirks. They were being held without bail in County Jail.

The four allegedly purchased stolen identification, checks and credit cards from street thieves, Sirks said. They would then make counterfeit checks to match the identification or they would alter the identification with photographs of themselves, he said.

Haynes, Spychalla and DeFrancisco went to Adray’s store on West Chapman Avenue Thursday, but a clerk became suspicious when the photo on an identification card didn’t match the man who was trying to pass a check, Sirks said.

The trio fled in a Ford Mustang, and a store employee described the car to police, who found the suspects about a block from the store, Sirks said. He said police found a loaded 9-millimeter automatic handgun and approximately 1,000 counterfeit checks in the car.

Investigators with the Orange Police Department’s major fraud unit obtained search warrants Friday for the apartments, Sirks said.