Burglary Suspect Arrested After Allegedly Attempting To Cash Stolen Check

SONOMA COUNTY, CA – A man was arrested in Santa Rosa Monday after allegedly attempting to cash a forged stolen check from an earlier residential burglary, according to police.

Police said officers responded to Exchange Bank located in 1300 block of Guerneville Road on reports of a check forgery in progress.

Officers arrived and an investigation revealed that a man had entered the bank and attempted to pass a check that had been stolen, but left the bank prior to their arriving.

A short distance away, 25-year-old Jeremiah Gasaiwai was loading items into a vehicle, when he was positively identified by bank staff and surveillance footage as the suspect with the forged check.

Further investigations revealed that the check Gasaiwai was attempting to cash was stolen during a residential burglary earlier this month on Aug. 18.

Surveillance footage from the burglary showed the vehicle Gasaiwai had been loading earlier, and a search of the vehicle yielded several stolen items and property.

Second-hand dealer receipts were also located, and these receipts documented where Gasaiwai allegedly sold stolen items just an hour after the burglary occurred, officials said. Detectives said they recovered five additional pieces of jewelry that were sold to the store by Gasaiwai, and that those items were identified by the victim and returned.

Gasaiwai was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of commercial burglary, possession of stolen property, identity theft and violation of probation.

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--Bay City News contributed to this report/File photo