Seven Counts of Forgery

By Jessie Williams

An 18-year-old man was apprehended by police last week after allegedly stealing his grandparents’ checkbook and forging his grandfather’s signature on seven checks.

 

According to a report filed by Patrolman Byron Butcher of the Lafayette Police Department, Jared Whitefield wrote the checks out to 28-year-old Willie Barrett, who cashed one of them at Advanced Financial in Lafayette. Another check was cashed at Sunshine Market. 

The total of the checks forged by Whitefield was $360. 

Whitefield was found with the forged checks in his pocket after an officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle he was a passenger in. 

Mr. Whitefield also had a set of scales in his pocket and a small amount of white, crystalized substance, believed to be meth, in his hat at the time of the traffic stop. 

He was charged with forgery (7 counts), theft: criminal simulation, theft of services and manufacture/delivery/possession of meth. His bond was set at $22,000. 

Barrett was also charged with theft: criminal simulation for knowingly possessing a forged check and attempting to cash it. His bond was set at $5,000.

Both men are scheduled to appear in general sessions court on March 27, 2019.