Man arrested after alleged attempt to forge, cash deceased man’s check
A local felon on parole was arrested on multiple charges Friday after allegedly trying to cash a forged check written on a deceased person’s account while in possession of drugs.
Jonathan Edward Ashley, 33, who lists a Central Avenue address, was taken into custody shortly after 5:30 p.m. at Bank of the Ozarks, 4044 Central Ave., and charged with felony counts of second-degree forgery, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and possession of a controlled substance, meth, punishable by up to six years, and misdemeanor counts of theft of property under $1,000 and theft by receiving.
Ashley was being held on an $8,000 bond and a zero bond parole hold and was set to appear Monday in Garland County District Court. He was previously convicted on June 11, 2013, in Hot Spring County of breaking or entering and sentenced to three years in prison.
According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday, Hot Springs police Officer James Moore was dispatched to the bank regarding a possible fraud and upon arrival made contact with Ashley.
The bank manager stated Ashley was attempting to cash a check for $882 and he recognized him from when he was in the bank on Thursday and cashed another check on the same account for $905. After reviewing the first check, he discovered it was written on the account of a local construction company and signed by the company’s owner, who is deceased.
The manager contacted the current owner of the company who confirmed the check was stolen and the theft was previously reported to the Garland County Sheriff’s Office.
Ashley was taken into custody and in searching him, officers reportedly found a syringe in his pocket which contained 28ml of a liquid that later tested positive for meth. When questioned, Ashley reportedly claimed he was cashing the check for an acquaintance and was being paid $30 to do so.