Police arrest 13 in connection with suspected check fraud rings

BARSTOW • Police arrested 13 people believed to be involved in two separate check fraud rings.

On Tuesday, police arrested Elise Rodarte, 23, Alan Petty, 26, Robert Gilmore, 25, Amber Adair, 24, and Sherry Navarro Durgin, 40, all of Barstow, on suspicion of conspiracy and grand theft in connection with fraudulent checks cashed at the Food 4 Less store in Barstow, according to a Barstow Police Department report.

Police arrested eight suspects and are seeking three more in another check fraud case that targeted multiple check-cashing businesses and liquor stores around town, Detective Jeremy Bledsoe said. In the course of the past week, police arrested Eva Lewis, 37, Artie Faye Smith, 49, Stephanie Lynn Elliott, 39, Robert Kumar Johnson, 18, Kristin Nicole Ryan, 33, Lisa Marie Armendarez, 23, Melinda Lewis, 35, and Valincya White, 20, on suspicion of forgery and conspiracy to defraud, according to a second report.

Investigators are looking for suspects Raymund Lamont Cain, Sr., 36, Raymund Lamont Cain, Jr., 18, and Milvian Michille Foster, 23, who Bledsoe said may have fled town.

The suspects in the Food 4 Less case allegedly cashed computer-generated checks at the Barstow store. A store fraud investigator reported the case to police on Sept. 9. The investigator noticed that the checks, which were issued to several different people, were all cashed by the same store employee, who bypassed the store’s verification system, according to the police report.

Police arrested the Food 4 Less fraud suspects after executing a search warrant Tuesday at an apartment complex on the 600 block of East Virginia Way, where the suspects were living in different apartments. The police report did not specify whether the store employee was one of the arrestees. Case agent Sgt. Andy Espinoza, Sr., could not be reached for comment.

A local Food 4 Less store representative declined to comment.

The second check fraud ring, which Bledsoe said was not believed to be related to the Food 4 Less case, involved people printing and cashing fraudulent payroll checks from Ludlow Dairy Queen and Crystal Stairs, Inc. The fraudulent checks reported to date total about $10,000, Bledsoe said.

To report information relating to the Food 4 Less case, call Sgt. Andy Espinoza, Sr., at 760-255-5135. To report information relating to the fraudulent Ludlow Dairy Queen and Crystal Stairs payroll checks, call Detective Jeremy Bledsoe at 760-255-5183, or the Barstow Police Department dispatch center at 760-256-2211. To remain anonymous, call WE-TIP at 1-800-78-CRIME or leave information on the WeTip Web site at www.wetip.com.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or asewell@desertdispatch.com