Crime Report: Woman arrested on forgery charge after trying to cash a check at a La Cañada bank, then making similar attempt at La Crescenta branch
Sept. 11
Identity theft: 4900 block of Del Monte Road. A man reported learning via the Social Security Administration that on Aug. 27 someone using the victim’s personal identification had made an online claim to receive his Social Security benefits.
Sept. 14
Forgery, check: 500 block of Foothill Boulevard. A woman later identified as Shanae Nicole Hutchinson, 21, entered a bank, approached the teller’s window and tried to cash a check made out to her. The bank employee suspected the signature on the check might have been forged, so she asked Hutchinson for identification, then went to another area to call the holder of the account involved. The man whose signature was on the check said he did not know Hutchinson and had not written a check to her. When the bank employee questioned Hutchinson and told her the man denied having written the check, Hutchinson left the bank. The employee then put out a fraud alert to area banks. Thirty minutes later, Hutchinson appeared in a La Crescenta branch of the bank and tried to cash a check drawn on yet another potential victim’s account. The Glendale Police Department was called and Hutchinson, whose city of residence is not included in the crime report, was taken into custody.
Identity theft; theft by access card: 500 block of Meadow View Drive. A woman reported that between July 24 and Aug. 13, she received four letters from banking institutions regarding credit accounts someone had fraudulently tried to open using her personal identification. She further discovered that several unauthorized withdrawals had been made from her bank account at ATMs throughout Los Angeles between July 24 and Sept. 8. She told a sheriff’s deputy she had learned in early July from a financial institution she does business with that someone had stolen several bank transaction documents from their Alhambra location on June 1 and she was advised to watch her accounts to avoid fraud.
Sept. 16
Petty theft from unlocked vehicle: 900 block of Valley Crest Street. A man reported that video surveillance showed an unknown person wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt, face mask, baseball cap and gloves opened the victim’s unlocked vehicle at 3:10 a.m. and took from it a Playstation Wii sensor, a two-outlet 600 inverter and a black bag containing tennis balls.
Twitter: @CarolCormaci
