Texas man in jail following alleged attempts to cash forged checks

Composite image with background stock photo and overlay of Washington City Police vehicle taken in Washington City, Utah, May 11, 2021 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A Texas man is in jail facing forgery and theft charges following his arrest on Thursday – the second such case filed against the suspect since January.

Stock image for illustrative purposes only | Photo by Payphoto/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

Officers followed up Wednesday to a fraud report after an individual called emergency dispatch reporting fraudulent activity on his account, including a check that was reportedly cashed at a credit union in Washington City.

Through the course of the investigation, officers spoke to the caller who reported three separate checks went through his account after they were cashed at two different credit union branches, one of which was in Washington City.

According to charging documents filed with the court, the first check was imprinted with the caller’s business logo and appeared to have his signature that was cashed on Jan. 20 at one of the branches on Red Cliffs Drive in Washington City.

The draft for more than $2,360 was made out to the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Zakary Michael Alcorn of Midland, Texas, and was imprinted with the suspect’s address listed in Las Vegas. The check also was endorsed with Alcorn’s signature and a telephone number, which officers later learned was a non-working number.

When officers responded to the credit union to follow up on the report, they obtained video footage from the day of the transaction. The video showed a man entering the bank wearing a yellow hoodie, blue jeans and boots, with a blue mask that was partially covering his face.

Investigators ran the suspect’s name and information through the state criminal database and discovered Alcorn had been arrested in January by officers in St. George in connection with a felony forgery case.

In that case, the suspect was arrested by St. George officers who were called in to investigate a report of a man attempting to cash a check at a local bank branch on Tabernacle Street. Employees there reported the check appeared to be forged.

According to charging documents filed with the court, when police responded they found the suspect, later identified as Alcorn, still at the bank. He he was detained while officers gathered the information from bank employees.

The staff told officers the suspect approached the teller to cash the check, which is when they noticed it was made out to an individual living out of state, which the teller described as “odd,” the report states.

Becoming suspicious, the bank teller reached out to the business listed on the check and were told the company had written no such check to the individual in question and said it was a forgery.

Alcorn was transported to jail in Washington County and later charged with third-degree felony forgery. He remained in custody until his release on Feb. 15, after pleading guilty to the charge. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April.

Nine days after his release, the report states, Alcorn would be arrested and return to jail on Thursday following the investigation into the Washington City case. The suspect has been formally charged with forgery and theft of services -both third-degree felonies and is scheduled to make an initial appearance in 5th District Court in St. George Friday afternoon.

Court records also indicate Alcorn is a suspect in a similar incident reported at a bank branch on Sunset Boulevard in St. George. That case is still under investigation.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!