Tips needed to apprehend passer of stolen checks

5/8/2004

Toledo police are looking for tips on the identity of a man who used stolen checks to buy $3,500 to $4,000 of building-trade items at Toledo-area businesses.

Police said the man ordered merchandise over the phone and said someone would be in later to pick them up and pay for them. The suspect then went to the businesses and paid for the items using checks that were stolen April 6 from a woman in Pittsfield Township in Michigan.

The man has hit five businesses in Toledo and one each in Northwood and Sylvania. The man is described as white, 30 to 40 years old, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, 160 to 170 pounds, and is scruffy or unshaven. He has a cut or scar about one inch long on the left side of his face next to his nose. In a recent surveillance video, he was wearing a winter hat and a jacket with Dallas Cowboys written on the back, police said.

Anyone with information on the man's identity is asked to call the Crime Stopper program at 419-255-1111. Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.