4 Arrested On Forgery Charges In Ocean City: Police

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Four New York residents were arrested on suspicion of fraud in Ocean City this week.

It began when the Ocean City Police Department responded to a report of fraudulent and suspicious activity at the TD Bank located in the 100 block of 9th Street on Wednesday afternoon, Ocean City Police said Thursday afternoon.

They received information from bank employees that a person just attempted to cash a fraudulent check and had exited the bank. The person had entered a black Dodge SUV in the parking lot.

Police soon learned that that person had exited the vehicle, and was now near the front of the bank near the main entrance.

Ptl. Vanessa Strunk was able to locate the person walking along side of the bank near 9th Street. The person, identified as 23-year-old Timothy Gonzalez, of Bronx, NY, was found to be in possession of a large amount of money and suspected marijuana, police said.

In the meantime, the suspect vehicle had left the bank parking lot.

A short time later Ptl. Wilent and Sgt. Rowland stopped the suspect vehicle on the 700 block of Bay Avenue.
There were three people in the car at the time, and all three were arrested and taken to police headquarters for follow-up investigation, conducted by the Ocean City Police Detective Bureau.

This investigation resulted in a search of the car. During the search, police said they found an undisclosed amount of cash, fraudulent documents and a printing device.

Gonzalez was subsequently charged with forgery, forgery-possession of a forgery device, possession of false documents and possession of CDS. He was released on a summons.

Vashan Chiddick, 24, of Bronx, NY, was charged with forgery, forgery-possession of a forgery device, possession of false documents and theft. He is being held on a warrant.

Diamond Commuck, 22, of Bronx, NY, was charged with forgery, forgery-possession of a forgery device, forgery-uttering, possession of false government documents and theft. She was released on a summons.

Jonathan Maldonado, 30, of Bronx, NY, was charged with forgery, forgery-possession of a forgery device, possession of false documents and theft. He was released on a summons.

The above suspects are under investigation for similar incidents in Absecon, Somers Point and Northfield.

Additional investigation is being conducted by the United States Secret Service, Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ocean City Police Department.

Any bank or business that may have been a victim of a similar incident should contact their local police department to report the event.