An Atlanta couple found out that Commerce is not the best place to cash forged checks, according to the Commerce Police Department.
Sotaveous Q. Banks, 28, 1460 Memorial Drive SE, Apt. B4, and Talisha Shavon Samuel, 28, of 2543 Hollywood Road, Lot 128, were each charged with forgery after they attempted to cash stolen checks at Fuel Mart and Quality Foods, both on the Maysville Road.
Police were alerted to the alleged scam when Quality Foods officials called to say someone had tried to cash a fake check. Store officials provided a description of the vehicle, including its tag number and the direction it was heading, and an officer found it at the Fuel Mart at Interstate 85.
One person was in the car when the officer arrived; two others were in the store, and according to the report, upon seeing the officer enter, the driver pulled around the store. The officer blocked his egress and demanded that he turn off the ignition and hand over the keys.
At that time, the store manager came out and claimed that one of the men had attempted to cash a fake check for $876.12 and told the officer that when the suspect saw the officer arrive, he quickly tried to leave.
Store personnel at Quality Foods identified Samuel as the person who tried to cash the check there. They told police she’d done the same thing before and they knew the check was fake. They said they asked her for the check stub and when she said she would get it from her car, they had a bag boy follow her out and get the vehicle’s tag number.
The officer reported recovering a check from Dekalb County’s Department of Family and Children’s Services for $1,467. Samuels told police that the check was her mother’s — but that her mother was in jail in Fulton County.
Other Arrests
Others arrested or cited during the past week include:
•Richard Augusto Garcia-Mendoza, 28, 63 Villa Road No. 519, Greenville, SC, failure to maintain a lane and driving without a license.
•Toni Phuoc Pham, 22, 120 Blackberry Lane, Pendergrass, driving under the influence (DUI) of intoxicants, operation of an unregistered vehicle and driving without insurance. He was pulled over for a tag violation, and the first thing the officer noticed was “what was left of a case of beer” on the front seat. The suspect admitted to having “two beers” but blew a .127 on the alcohol sensor, the report said.
•Ricco Edwin Marshall, 21, Prather Park Drive, Apt. 45, Toccoa, DUI, violation of the move over law and driving with a license suspended for failure to appear and for DUI. He was stopped for failing to pull over for an officer citing another motorist on U.S. 441. The officer immediately detected the smell of alcohol and noted that Marshall’s eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred, the report said. It also indicated that he at first gave the officer a false name and claimed that he’d left his license at home. A passenger, Jessica Lynn Jarrard, 19, 201 Kyte Street, Toccoa, was charged with underage possession of alcohol.
•Jesus Selgado Solis, 42, 2342 Plymouth Lane, Norcross, picked up from Gwinnett County police on a local warrant for failure to appear.
•Zachary Carter Oneal, 26, 1601 Knollwood Drive, Apt. 15, Mobile, AL, and Michael Lee Phillips, 26, 218 Magnolia Avenue, Satsuma, AL, arrested on felony burglary warrants from Clarke County, AL, after they were allegedly clocked doing 74 on the Commerce bypass.
•Erica Babette Williams, 38, 168 Hill Street, Commerce, aggravated assault, after she allegedly cut her husband twice on the same day. The first time, he required nine stitches in his hand, and when he returned to his residence, she came after him again, according to the police report. She told the police that he was going to “get his” and that she was going to be the person who “gave it to him,” according to the officer’s report. After she was taken to jail, her husband was transported back to BJC Medical Center for more stitches.
•Christopher Lee Butler, 17, described as “homeless,” entering an auto. He was charged after the vehicle’s owner and other witnesses told police they saw him in the vehicle, from which a CD player was removed. Butler allegedly admitted being in the vehicle but claimed someone named “Jake” actually stole the CD player.
•Bryan Bradley Boyd, 17, 4068 Mt. Olive Road, Commerce, criminal trespass after he allegedly became enraged when his mother would not give him money for gasoline, kicked down a door, slammed down and broke a juice glass and stormed out of the house.
