Three out-of-county men are being sought on charges they altered and cashed checks belonging to a Butler Township business. In all, the alleged theft totaled nearly $15,000.

Wanted on felony arrest warrants issued last week are Willie E. Caldwell Jr., 55, of Washington, Pa.; Cedric I. Doughty, 37, of Pittsburgh; and Chase R. Wilson Degusipe, 24, of Markleysville, Fayette County.

The trio was charged Oct. 21 following a Butler Township police investigation that began July 3 when the owner of the Agway store on Route 68 reported finding several business checks had been fraudulently cashed at Huntington Bank branches in Allegheny and Lawrence counties.

Police believed the checks were stolen from the store before they were mailed to vendors for the business.

The checks were “washed,” possibly in chemicals, to remove the payee's names and the dollar amounts, and replaced with one of the defendants' names and larger amounts. The checks were cashed between June 29 and July 3.

Investigators eventually identified the suspects from bank surveillance video and the driver's license numbers and photos they used to cash the checks.

Caldwell is accused of cashing three checks totaling $6,748.76. Doughty allegedly cashed two checks totaling $4,141.04. Wilson Degusipe is accused of cashing two checks totaling $4,082.28.

Caldwell is charged with six counts of access device fraud and one count of theft by deception, all felonies. He also is charged with three counts of forgery and two counts of theft by deception, all misdemeanors.

Doughty is charged with four counts of access device fraud and one count of theft by deception, all felonies. He also is charged with two counts of forgery and one count of theft by deception, all misdemeanors.

Wilson Degusipe is charged with four felony counts of access device fraud and two misdemeanor counts each of forgery and theft by deception.

Police suspect the case is linked to a similar one earlier this year at Ritenour Equipment Center on Route 68, which is next to Agway.

Bryan A. Perri, 31, of Butler previously was arrested in that case. Police said they believe he altered a stolen business check, which was intended for a bank. Perri allegedly cashed the check for $895.46 on May 20 at a First National Bank branch in Mercer County. He is charged with access device fraud, theft by deception and forgery. His preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday. He remains in the Butler County Prison on those charges as well as unrelated charges.