Suspect sought in theft, forgery of elderly man's checks - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Police are searching for a suspect they say stole an elderly man's checks and then used them at stores across the metro Atlanta area.

The victim, an 89-year-old man in north Fulton County, noticed the problem when he received more than $1,200 in canceled checks that he never wrote.

"The checkbook in question that's being written off of was inside his house, leading up to him getting some of these checks back that had his name forged on them," said Lt. Chris Byers of the Johns Creek Police Department.
 
Police tell us the victim believes a home health care worker stole the checkbook but he does not recognize the man in the video.
 
"He's looked at the video, he's looked at the pictures and does not recognize that man as being one of the workers in his home. That's why we're looking to see if there's any connection with that to the theft of the checks and this person," Byers said.
 
The checks were used at Walmart stores in several different metro area counties, including DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Floyd and in the city of Atlanta. Police say at the Duluth store alone, more than $140 in merchandise was paid for with forged checks.

While authorities are asking for help identifying the shopper, they also want to warn those with elderly family members to be cautious, especially when it comes to those working in an elderly relative's home.
     
"They're easily targeted which is why we believe he was targeted in this theft," Byers said. "From what we've seen from our victim in this case, there's nothing he could have done to protect himself any more."

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (404)577-8477.