Published: January 10, 2009 03:18 am      

Stolen checks target of forgery case

A tip that stolen and forged checks were used to purchase various items at stores in Pauls Valley and Norman now has a local couple facing a criminal charge each.

The felony counts of knowingly concealing property obtained by false pretense were filed Thursday against Kristy Deann Burk, 26, and Jeremy Burk, 33.

Those charges came after Garvin County and PV authorities served a warrant the day before to search the Burk residence in the 1300 block of South East.

In an unexpected twist officers approaching the home to begin the search wound up arresting two other subjects on drug possession complaints as they sat in a vehicle parked in the same house’s driveway.

Taken into custody and given drug possession charges were Danielle Kristine Richardson, 23, of Paoli and Natasha May Jones, 19, Wynnewood.

The charge against Richardson was related to methamphetamine, while the allegation for Jones came after a marijuana “roach,” or cigarette, was found in her purse, a court document shows.

When the search of the local residence was finally completed deputies reported finding items such as shoes and clothing purchased with the checks, first stolen and then forged, at stores located in the Sooner Fashion Mall.

A filed affidavit shows four checks were forged at the Norman stores, while another three were illegally used at different Pauls Valley restaurants.

In all, the seven checks totaling more than $900 were used to make the purchases during the time span of Dec. 20-26.

The owner of the checks reported them missing from her residence east of Pauls Valley three days later after making a trip to her local bank.

The victim then started her own investigation complete with a photo line-up presented to clerks at the Norman stores and copies of receipts from the forged purchases.

That information led to the home’s search as deputies found items that matched the receipts, in addition to pieces of torn checks that were confirmed stolen.

“We can confirm that they’re the stolen checks,” Lt. Travis Crawford said.

“The victim’s name was on it, along with the account number. We also found numerous items recently purchased at the Sooner Fashion Mall in Norman,” he said.

The deputy added the couple admitted to taking part in forging the checks stolen from someone they know.

Both could face other criminal allegations in Cleveland County as Crawford added the investigation here remains ongoing as deputies are looking into the possibility the forgery case is even larger than thought.