Man Faces Felony Forgery, Other Charges

A local man was arrested recently after allegedly cashing a check he stole from a pickup truck. 

Donald Lee Buffum, 33, of Concord, was arrested at 11:41 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2013, and charged with forgery, a felony, receiving stolen property, and theft by deception.

According to a Concord Police arrest report and court documents, an officer was assigned to speak to a Heights Road resident on Nov. 25, about a theft from his truck.

The man said the thefts happened sometime between Nov. 1, and Nov. 14, 2013. The man reported to the officer that on Nov. 15, he went out to his truck to get a piece of equipment, an ohmmeter, and that it was missing from the truck where he left it. The ohmmeter was in its original box and was purchased from Lowes for $30.

A little more than a week later, on Nov. 24, the man was notified by TD Bank that there was “some suspicious activity” on his bank account. The man went to the bank and found out that two checks had been cashed or attempted to be cashed, without his authority.

The man told police that he sometimes left his checkbook in the center console of the truck and they must have been stolen. He admitted to the officer that sometimes, he left his truck unlocked, and didn’t see any forced entry to the truck.

One of the checks was dated Nov. 14, and was allegedly issued to Donald Buffum for $450. It was cashed at just before 11 a.m.

“On the check it showed that it was for ‘Work’ and it appeared that (the man) signed the check,” the officer reported. “On the back of the check it had been endorsed with a scribble mark.”

The bank teller wrote down the driver’s license number on the back of the check, according to the report. The officer looked it up and it wasn’t in the system but a similar number was later connected to Buffum.

The officer checked with the bank and received surveillance footage of the person who cashed the check and alleged that it matched Buffum’s license picture on file with the state.

An officer spotted Buffum about a month later on the Loudon Road and arrested and held without bail.

Last year, Buffum was arrested on multiple felony sale of controlled drugs charges after a multi-month drug sales investigation on Rumford Street.

Editor’s note: The following story was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and Concord District Court. It does not indicate a conviction.