3 men arrested for using fake checks

Three men from Columbus, Ohio, were arrested by city police for attempting to purchase more than $1,000 worth of merchandise on Sunday at Best Buy in Bloomington using fake checks.

Leearl Maurese Chapman, 41, entered the electronics store at 2721 E. Third St. with $1,000 worth of fake traveler’s checks and bought $906.58 worth of merchandise including a $179 gift card, according to court documents. Chapman walked out of the store, returned to a 2013 Dodge Charger rental car and gave the card to Arthur Clinton Jennings, 47.

David LeShawn Robinson, 39, entered the store in an attempt to buy $421.47 worth of merchandise with the same fake traveler’s checks.

Robinson left the store without the merchandise because he became nervous after store employees had become aware of the fake checks just used by
Chapman.

When Bloomington police arrived, they intercepted Robinson in the parking lot and found Chapman in the Dodge Charger with Jennings hiding in the back seat, Bloomington Police Department Lt. Steve Kellams said.

“When we continued the investigation we found they had been using fraudulent checks to purchase items around town,” Kellams said.

It appears the three men have made fraudulent purchases in a number of cities and states.

Police found several bags of items bought from K-Mart, Staples and Best Buy in the Dodge Charger.

Chapman admitted to police he had purchased fake traveler’s checks from Columbus, Ohio, and drove to Bloomington with Robinson and Jennings to several stores with a lenient traveler’s check policy, according to court documents.

Robinson denied knowing the checks were fake but later recanted, admitting he had suspicions they were fake.

Jennings told police he acted as the lookout and driver for Chapman and Robinson and admitted to knowing the checks were fake.

Chapman is wanted on a U.S. Marshal’s warrant for federal fraud, and Robinson and Jennings are on probation for fraud, Kellams said.

The three men were scheduled for an initial hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday as co-defendants for preliminary charges of forgery, a class C felony, in the Second Circuit Court.

Chapman faces two counts of forgery and one count of theft, a class D felony.

Robinson faces two counts of forgery. Jennings faces one count of forgery and one count of theft.

Dennis Barbosa