A Mountain Home woman is accused of forging a female acquaintance’s name on her checks after allegedly stealing the checkbook from the victim’s backpack. According to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, 29-year-old Jessica Whitson was booked into the detention center early Saturday morning on five felony counts of forgery, five misdemeanor counts of theft of property and a misdemeanor count of attempted theft of property.
A sheriff’s investigator says in an arrest affidavit he was informed June 25th the victim stated items were missing from her backpack. The victim reportedly said she and Whitson rode in Whitson’s vehicle the previous night and stayed at a friend’s house. When the victim woke up in the morning, she noticed Whitson was gone, and so was her backpack. After being given a ride back to her vehicle, the victim reportedly located her backpack in the vehicle, but numerous items were missing including her driver’s license, gift cards and a checkbook belonging to an elderly Cotter man being assisted by the victim as a caretaker.
A citizen filed another report the next day stating she was traveling on County Road 1175 at approximately 3:15 when she observed a white four-door car traveling in the opposite direction. As the unidentified citizen continued her travel, she reportedly spotted a checkbook, a driver’s license and debit cards identified as the missing items from the victim’s backpack. The citizen says she also found personal papers with Whitson’s name on them.
The investigation later uncovered checks from the checkbook having been written to businesses in the area. After being subpoenaed by prosecutors, Integrity First Bank provided images of checks totaling over $375 written over a two-day period. In addition, a female allegedly attempted to cash a $575 check in the drive-through window at Integrity First’s east branch, but the bank declined.
Video surveillance from Integrity First reportedly shows a clear image of the female at the window identified as Whitson, and the driver’s license and debit card used as identification belonged to the victim. Surveillance was also viewed at Harps allegedly showing Whitson purchasing fuel. A check was also reportedly received at the bank from a retail business in Gainesville.
Whitson’s bond is set at $20,500, and she is set to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court in August.
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