Stamford Man Accused Of Stealing Checks In Westport: Police

WESTPORT, CT — A 23-year-old Stamford man was arrested on a warrant on charges of identity theft, larceny and related violations over the weekend in connection with the September theft of checks from a vehicle and attempt to fraudulently withdraw more than $1,100, according to Westport police.

Devaun Joyner was arrested by Stamford police on Saturday and turned over to Westport authorities, who charged him with third-degree identity theft, second-degree forgery, fourth-degree larceny and criminal attempt at fourth-degree larceny.

The case began on Sept. 6 of this year when the victim told Westport police that her unlocked vehicle had been burglarized while it was parked at the Saugatuck train station the day before, Westport police said. Several checks were stolen from a checkbook that had been left inside.

"The victim’s husband became aware of the theft when he received notification from his bank of possible fraudulent activity," wrote Westport police in a statement. "In follow-up with the bank, he was advised that several withdrawals were attempted from his checking account on this same date using physical checks. It was learned through investigation that a suspect had attempted to cash one of these stolen checks in person at bank branch in Stamford on Thursday September 5, 2019."

See Related: Man Attempted To Cash Stolen Checks: Westport PD

Bank personnel suspected possible fraud, and though they were unable to get in contact with the victim to verify the legitimacy of the transaction, it was ultimately denied.

"Despite that, several stolen checks were then later deposited into a customer's account using an ATM at the same branch," police said. "This account belonged to Devaun Joyner, who was physically present with the second suspect when the checks were deposited into the ATM machine. The total amount of funds that the suspects attempted to steal from the victim’s account using the five fraudulent checks was alleged to be $1,150.00."

During the course of the investigation, detectives interviewed employees of the unnamed Stamford bank and obtained bank records and surveillance video, which confirmed Joyner and a second man, 22-year-old Kevin Kenmeugne, also of Stamford, as the suspects. Kenmeugne was arrested on Oct. 2 in connection with the case.

Joyner was held in lieu of bail of $15,000 and was scheduled to be arraigned in Norwalk Superior Court on Dec. 9.