Jessica Luton
Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office
— Counterfeit money
A female employee of the Jet Food Store, in the 1900 block of North Jefferson Street, reported that a man came into the store on June 25 and handed her a $10. The complainant told the man that the bill was counterfeit. The man said he could not remember where he got the counterfeit bill and was not aware that the bill was counterfeit. The manager of the store said that when she put her pen tester on the bill, it showed the wrong color. While deputies were investigating the bill, the clerk also handed over a counterfeit $20 bill that was given to the store by an unknown person. The bills were collected as evidence and turned over to detectives for further investigation and prosecution.
— Burglary
A woman reported that she did not live at a residence in the 300 block of McCullar-Weaver Road, but she stopped by to feed her horses and noticed when she entered the barn that two doors that were previously locked on her last visit were unlocked. An unknown number of automotive wrenches, a box of drill bits and two handheld bow saws were reported as stolen from the barn. The woman said she inherited the property from a man who had passed away and advised that the man’s son was angry when he did not receive an inheritance. The woman told the deputy that a friend had called and informed her that the man’s son was trying to sell tools to him. The tools matched the description of those stolen from the property. A deputy observed that one door of the barn had been forcefully opened and the latch and lock had been pried off with an unknown object. Once inside the room, the woman told the deputy that the room was full of tools and the only tools she was sure that were missing were the mentioned items.
— Identity theft
A man reported that he was incarcerated from October 2005 through January 2006 and during that time his residence, in the 100 block of Autumn Lane, had been burglarized. The man said his house was ransacked and his wallet, along with his Medicaid card, social security card and personal identification card had been taken. Since his release, the man said he has been filing his taxes every year and hasn’t received a return. The man said that he received a notice from the IRS stating that he owed $8,000. The man also said that he discovered through his Medicaid statement that someone had fraudulently used his Medicaid card and when he went to the IRS office, he was advised that his Social Security Number had been filed for tax purposes. The man said the IRS requested a report for identity theft.
— Printing or executing fictitious check
An employee of Middle Georgia Auto reported that a man presented him a fictitious check when she was attempting to buy a car at the business. The employee attempted to verify the check by calling National Finance and Tax in Macon and they told him that the man did have an account, but there was no money in the account. The deputy met with the man who wrote the check, which was written for $4,592.34, and he said that he had not filed an income tax return since 2005 when he went to prison and his cousin’s girlfriend was supposed to file a return for him while he was in prison, but he never received a return. The man said that the check recently came in the mail, but he did not file a return in 2008. The check was given to the deputy and the man said he would attempt to locate his cousin’s girlfriend. The check was entered into evidence for further investigation.
