Former Corsica Woman Accused of Stealing, Cashing Grandmother’s Checks

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Published February 26, 2019 5:30 am
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BROOKVILLE BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) — A 24-year-old woman is facing charges after she allegedly stole, forged, and cashed checks belonging to her grandmother.

Court documents indicate the Brookville Borough Police Department filed criminal charges against 24-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Lawson, of Kittanning and formerly of Corsica.

According to a criminal complaint, Officer Stormer of the Brookville Borough Police Department received a phone call from the daughter of the victim around 11:33 a.m. on Tuesday, February 5.

The woman told Officer Stormer that she serves as Power of Attorney for her mother, and handles her bank accounts. She stated that she had discovered three personal checks from her mother’s checking account issued to and cashed by Sarah Lawson. The woman believed the checks were stolen.

Lawson is the biological granddaughter and adopted child of the victim.

The complaint notes that the woman called her mother to ask about the checks in question and discovered that Lawson was given one of the checks, in the amount of $250.00, dated for January 27, 2018. Lawson allegedly told her grandmother that she needed to money to pay a gas bill and she did not know who to make the check out to. The victim left the body of the check blank, but did fill out the amount of $250.00 and signed the check. Lawson then allegedly filled out the check with her own name as the payee and cashed it.

According to the complaint, the other two checks were also made out to Lawson and appeared to be signed by the victim; however, the victim stated she did not give the checks to Lawson, nor did she sign either check. The checks in question were cashed in the amount of $200.00 each.

The complaint notes that since the victim issued one check to Lawson, that check was not reported as stolen. Investigators believe that check may have been used as a template or example of the victim’s handwriting for the other checks that Lawson allegedly stole from the victim’s residence in Brookville.

The complaint also notes that two of the checks were cashed at the 1st Commonwealth Bank in Leechburg, Armstrong Coounty. Lawson resides in nearby Kittanning, Armstrong County. Bank security cameras show a white female with blonde hair, generally matching the appearance of Sarah Lawson, cashing the checks.

On Monday, February 11, Officer Stormer was contacted by a manager at the 1st Commonwealth Bank in Brookville who informed him that the bank received another check cashed from the victim’s account, made out to Sarah Lawson for the amount of $100.00. Investigators believe the check was cashed on February 6, at the Walmart store, in Natrona Heights, Allegheny County.

According to the complaint, the check had similar handwriting as the two other checks in question; however, it was clearly not the victim’s signature.

The victim was shown the checks in question and stated that the signatures “were not hers,” according to the complaint.

The complaint notes that it is believed that no other person had access to the victim’s residence other than Lawson, and “the fact that she was the payee on all three suspected checks indicates that she is responsible for the theft.”

Based on the investigation, the following charges were filed in Magisterial District Judge Gregory M. Bazylak’s office on Thursday, February 21:

  • Forgery — Unauthorized Act in Writing, Felony 2 (three counts)
  • Theft by Unlawful Taking — Moveable Property, Misdemeanor 2 (two counts)
  • Receiving Stolen Property, Misdemeanor 2 (three counts)
  • Theft by Unlawful Taking — Moveable Property, Misdemeanor 3
  • A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, April 11, with Judge Bazylak presiding.

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