The DeWitt Police Department has reported the arrest of two suspects, a man and woman, in connection to an ongoing investigation of stolen business checks being utilized to create forged checks.
Beginning on Aug. 16, the Dewitt Police Department began receiving reports of stolen checks within the northern business district of the town of DeWitt. At 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 24, police officers were dispatched to the East Syracuse W. Manlius Street location of Key Bank for the report of a male attempting to cash a forged business check.
Officers arrived on scene and an interview of the subject attempting to cash the forged check revealed that he had been picked up at a local homeless shelter and recruited to cash the check. During the interview the male gave officers a description of the vehicle which had brought him to the bank; the vehicle was then located and stopped in the area by another Dewitt unit. The vehicle was occupied by two subjects who were identified as Johntavious Dodson of Decatur, GA and Fredericca Smith of Atlanta, GA.
The investigation corroborated the information given by the subject, implicating Dodson and Smith in the forgery scheme. Both Dodson and Smith were charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, attempted brand Larceny in the fourth degree and conspiracy in the fifth degree. Dodson and Smith were both arraigned in the Town of DeWitt Court and each held on $25,000 cash/$50,000 bond.
Police say they believe the subjects are part of a larger organized crime ring, which traveled together from the Georgia area, and the investigation is ongoing.
