SMITHFIELD – Police in Smithfield arrested a man at KS Bank on N. Brightleaf Boulevard after he allegedly tried to cash an altered check. Joseph William Boone Jr., of Valley Forge Way S, Cameron, NC was arrested December 14 and charged with uttering a forged instrument.
Police said Boone went to the bank and attempted to cash a check in the amount of $6,220.08 drawn on the account of the Pine Level Volunteer Fire Department. An alert teller immediately noticed the check had been “washed” or altered from the original payee and dollar amount.
A spokesperson for the Pine Level Volunteer Fire Department said the original check was written to a company for new fire hose, not Joseph Boone. They suspect the check may have been stolen from a mailbox. The fire department was the victim in the case and had no connection to, nor did they know, the suspect.
Police arrested the 49 year-old suspect while he waited at the bank for the check to be cashed. Boone was held under a $10,000 secured bond at the Johnston County Jail.
