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Westport Police took Devaun Joyner into custody on an active warrant on Sunday, Dec. 8.
Police say a victim reported on Friday, Sept. 6 that her vehicle had been burglarized while parked at the Saugatuck Railroad Station the previous day.
Several checks were taken from a checkbook that had been left within the unlocked vehicle, according to police. The victim’s husband became aware of the theft when he received notification from his bank of possible fraudulent activity, police say.
The victim’s husband was subsequently advised that several withdrawals were attempted from the checking account on the same date using physical checks, police say.
Further investigation revealed that a suspect had allegedly attempted to cash one of the stolen checks at a Stamford bank on the day of the theft, Thursday, Sept. 5.
The transaction was denied because the teller suspected possible fraud and was unable to contact the victim to verify the legitimacy of the transaction, police say.
Despite this denial, police say several stolen checks were subsequently deposited into a customer’s account using an ATM at the same branch.
The account was determined to belong to Joyner, who police say was physically present with a second suspect during the ATM deposit.
In total, the suspects attempted to steal funds amounting to $1,150 from the victim’s account using five fraudulent checks, according to police.
Further investigation, interviews with bank employees, analysis of video surveillance footage and execution of search warrants led to the identification of Joyner as well as an accomplice, who police say was arrested on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Joyner was charged with third-degree burglary, third-degree identity theft, second-degree forgery, fourth-degree criminal attempt at larceny and fourth-degree larceny. He was unable to post a court-set bond of $15,000 and was transported to Norwalk Superior Court for arraignment on Monday, Dec. 9.
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