Lansdale man allegedly deposited another person’s paychecks mistakenly sent to him

LANSDALE — A Lansdale man is behind bars and facing a dozen criminal counts after police said he deposited into his bank account four paychecks belonging to another borough resident — totaling more than $1,200 — that were mistakenly delivered to his address.

Christopher Donte Crawford, 23, of the 100 block of East Main Street, has been charged with four counts each of felony forgery, misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor receiving stolen property in connection with the fraudulent deposits that allegedly took place in April and May.

Lansdale detectives said that at the end of May, the victim reported that she did not receive four paychecks in a row, totaling $1,248.07, that were mailed to her from her employer, and that she was told by her employer that they had been cashed.

The woman also said she subsequently learned that her mailman was new to the route and delivered her checks to the wrong address, police said.

After an investigation, detectives said they concluded that Crawford deposited the four checks into his bank account on four separate occa- sions between April 25 and May 16, using a borough ATM, and that he forged the victim’s signature on the checks each time.

In addition to examining bank account activity that showed the paychecks were deposited into Crawford’s account, detectives said they obtained ATM surveillance photos of each fraudulent transaction that depicted the same individual making the deposits, and that that person matched an arrest photo of Crawford that Lansdale police had on file.

Crawford was arraigned July 8 before District Judge Harold Borek of Lansdale, who set bail at 10 per- cent of $25,000 cash. Crawford was committed to Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to post bond, and he remains incarcerated while awaiting a preliminary hearing before Borek that’s scheduled for July 18.

Court records indicate Crawford is also awaiting a Dec. 1 trial in Philadelphia on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, conspiracy and recklessly endangering another person in connection with an alleged 2012 incident, details of which were not immediately available.

Crawford has been free on 10 percent of $50,000 bail in that case, records show.