Hunter
07/02/21
An Iowa City man who allegedly wrote a bad check to pay for custom basketball jerseys over a year ago was arrested this week.
According to the criminal complaint, 57-year old Jeffrey Nelson of Miller Avenue placed an order for 18 adult basketball jerseys for the TC Ballers team at Hollywood Graphics the morning of February 14th, 2020. The business asked Nelson for half the cost of the order to begin processing his request, but Nelson allegedly said he would write a check for the full amount.
After the jerseys were picked up, the business learned that Nelson wrote the check to them from a closed account. The victim called Nelson and confronted him about the reportedly bad check and told him he needed to make the purchase right by paying in cash. Nelson allegedly never showed up to make good on the purchase. Police attempted to contact him in person and by phone to no avail.
Employees at Hollywood Graphics picked Nelson out of a photo lineup as the person who wrote the check. The amount of the bad check was $573.91.
A warrant was issued for Nelson’s arrest on March 13th of that year; records show that he was charged with 4th degree theft at the Johnson County Jail Thursday night and released shortly thereafter. If convicted on the charge, Nelson faces a maximum jail term of one year.