West Bend Police: 3 suspects arrested for passing forged checks at multiple businesses

WEST BEND, Wis. (CBS 58) -- West Bend Police took three people into custody, accused of passing forged checks throughout the city.

An employee of Advanced Auto Parts called the police to report that two men attempted to purchase merchandise with fraudulent American Express Travelers Checks. It happened around 4 p.m. on Friday. The transaction was declined and both men left the store. 

West Bend officers located the suspects in a vehicle in the Kohl’s Department Store parking lot and arrested both men, a 25-year-old from Massachusetts and a 25-year-old from New York.

A 19-year-old female from New York was also taken into custody and found to have 30 additional forged checks in her possession.

West Bend investigators found the men had also passed forged checks at Petco and Marshall's in West Bend as well as businesses in Germantown and Wauwatosa.

Police charged each man with 12 Counts of Passing a Forged Check and the female with 12 counts Party to the Crime of Passing a Forged Check.

All were placed in the Washington County Jail.

The men were also charged with Criminal Damage to Property as they punched and damaged the booking room doors while in custody at the West Bend Police Department.

West Bend investigators are continuing to work with Germantown and Wauwatosa investigators to identify additional businesses where the forged checks were passed.