Several people arrested in check forgery scheme

Police say the group tried to cash a check worth nearly $4800
KCJJ Staff
03/01/19

Iowa City Police have taken several people into custody they say were involved in a check forging scheme.

Arrest reports indicate Lazarick Pearce, 38, of Cedar Rapids, took a check written for nearly $4800 into the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank on Mormon Trek Boulevard a little before 12:30 p.m. Thursday and attempted to cash it. Arriving officers found Pearce and several co-defendants still in the immediate area of the bank.

After contacting the business listed as the payor on the check, the business confirmed it was a real check but manufactured to show it to be paid to Pearce.

He – along with JaCarlos Bridges, 25, of Forest Park, Georgia; Shankissia Cato, 32; and Summer Goode, 24, each of Mableton, Georgia – were allegedly found in a vehicle together with multiple other stolen checks and forging materials.

All four face charges of 2nd Degree Theft and Forgery. Each could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.