An arrest, and charges, may come soon for a former employee of a Holmes Beach restaurant.
As Wolfgang Jahn, owner of Old Hamburg Schnitzelhaus, 3246 E. Bay Drive, is learning, justice can be slow coming.
He filed a report in May alleging a woman stole his checkbook, and used it to cash several checks.
Jahn said $2,600 in checks were forged by the woman. It all came to his attention when he noticed several checks the individual had written to herself and also a forged a check to the woman’s mother.
The suspect attempted to mimic Jahn’s handwriting, but images of the checks were a give-away to Jahn. He said the first signature was good, but the last check, “you couldn’t even read it.”
Jahn expressed frustration that the Holmes Beach Police Department has not acted sooner, however according to HBPD Sgt. Detective Brian Hall, the wait may soon be over.
Hall has been investigating the matter, and said Sept. 4 he would seek charges within a week.
“I am looking at charging her with petit theft for stealing the check book and several counts of uttering a forged instrument,” said Hall.
Hall said the incident is not isolated to Holmes Beach, which has complicated the investigation.
The suspect is no stranger to the Manatee County jail or judicial center. She was charged with grand theft and uttering forged documents in November 2010, to which she pleaded no contest in August 2011.
She was charged with petit retail theft in May 2009, to which she also plead no contest.
Most recently, she was arrested Sept. 2 in Bradenton for driving on a suspended license and having an expired vehicle registration. A Bradenton police report stated the individual’s license had expired in 2009, and had been suspended since 2012.