Hijacked Checks For Vernon Elderly Couple's Oil Bills Turn Into Felony Forgery Charges: Warrant

VERNON, CT — A warrant accuses a 28-year-old Hartford woman of hijacking an elderly couple's oil bill payments in the mail in Vernon and then forging similar checks.

Yarilee Mendez appeared in Rockville Superior Court last week to be arraigned on two counts of first-degree forgery, two counts of second-degree identity theft and two counts of fifth-degree larceny, judicial system records show. She posted a $10,000 bond and is due back before a judge on Sept. 28, records show.

Patch obtained the warrant via a Freedom of Information request.

According to the warrant, on March 26, a 75-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman told police in Vernon that they had received a call from their oil company that payments had not been received. The man said he personally put respective checks for $981.22 and $981.21 into a mail depository at the Post Office on Hartford Turnpike in Vernon, according to the warrant.

The oil company said it has had bill-pays hijacked before, and suspected it had happened again, according to the warrant.

Two checks then showed up at a bank from the couple's account, made out to Mendez with the notation "home cleaning," according to the warrant. The couple did not hire Mendez to perform the work and they physically had checks with the corresponding numbers in their possession, according to the warrant.

Mendez was identified via surveillance at the banks at which she cashed the forged checks, according to the warrant. Surveillance images matched the photo on her Department of Motor Vehicles photo, according to the warrant.