Man's check counterfeiting charges mount
Two more police departments in Butler County have filed charges against an alleged serial counterfeit check forger.
Along with the charges, police in Butler Township and Saxonburg on Tuesday obtained warrants for Scott Elliot Payne Jr.'s arrest.
That brings to 11 the number of arrest warrants out for the 30-year-old Allegheny County man who uses addresses in Wilkinsburg and Pittsburgh.
Police in six counties are searching for him.
Butler Township police, in one of the newest cases, accused Payne of passing what appeared to be an authentic Burger King payroll check Oct. 21 at the Friedman's supermarket at the Greater Butler Mart.
The $384.19 check turned out to be counterfeit, but he managed to cash it. Police said the transaction was captured on store surveillance video.
Saxonburg police allege Payne on Aug. 28 presented what looked like a genuine Eat'n Park payroll check at the Friedman's on West Water Street. It too was fake.
Still, according to court documents, he cashed the $426.02 check and pocketed the money.
He faces charges including forgery and theft by deception in Butler Township and Saxonburg.
Police in Butler and Jackson Township last month filed similar charges against Payne.
Butler police said he cashed a $426.02 counterfeit payroll check on Aug. 23 at the former Friedman's store on West Brady Street.
On Sept. 11 and 12, according to Jackson Township police, he cashed two bogus payroll checks Bi-Lo Foods at Northgate Plaza. The two checks totaled $1,729.20, court documents said.
Other departments with felony arrest warrants for Payne are state police in Washington and Fayette counties; McKeesport police in Allegheny County; and Greensburg, Latrobe and New Kensington police, all in Westmoreland County.
He faces forgery, theft by deception and bad checks charge in those other counties. The alleged crimes occurred between June 2 and Sept. 11.
State police in Clarion County last month charged Payne, by summons, for forging a bad check on Sept. 8 in Beaver Township.
He also was previously issued a summons to appear in court in connection with an Aug. 16 counterfeit check case filed by police in Washington, Pa.
Court records show that Payne already has nine forgery convictions in Pennsylvania.
