Police: Couple Cashed Stolen Checks

A man and woman from Easton were jailed Monday after city police arrested them for cashing three stolen checks.

Police said James Trevis Yarnell, 32, and Bonnie Lee Duckworth, 28 -- both of 55 N. 5th St. --cashed the checks last week at three local Lafayette Ambassador Bank branches.

According to court papers, the checks were reported stolen March 23 by Carolyn Koch. On March 22, the bank had notified Koch that the checks had been cashed over a span of about four hours that day, at the branches on Northampton Street, 19th Street and 25th Street. The three checks amounted to $1,585. 

Yarnell and Duckworth allegedly forged Koch's name and made the checks out to themselves. It was unclear how they got access to them in the first place. Police said surveillance cameras picked up each transaction, and a warrant was issued for Duckworth and Yarnell's arrest.

They were arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Daniel Corpora in Easton, and charged with three counts of forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, and theft by unlawful taking. Yarnell and Duckworth were sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.