West Deer police accuse woman of forging, cashing check from pump supply company

A Monroeville woman who pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in April for forging a check is accused of doing the same thing to steal from a business in West Deer.

Police charged Chelsea Renee Chase, 34, of the 200 block of Holt Lane with felony counts of theft and access device fraud, along with a count of forgery.

The charges were filed Oct. 25 in connection with a theft that was reported in late April, court records show. A date for a preliminary hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that Masterflo Pump Inc. on Dewey Lane reported April 21 that a check for $2,206 with Chase’s name on it had been cashed on April 10, 2022, at a Key Bank branch in Monroeville.

Officials with the pump supply company told police that the check originally was made out to someone else and that it was altered before being cashed, the complaint said.

Investigators say Chase cashed the bogus check at a Key Bank branch in Monroeville on Sept. 9, 2022, and presented her driver’s license and a credit card for identification. The signature on the back of the check and the one on Chase’s driver’s license matched, they said.

Police did not say how they think Chase got the check that was altered and cashed.

A police review of Chase’s criminal background revealed that, at the time West Deer police were investigating her, she was facing a check fraud charge filed by Moon Township police the day after the Monroeville incident, the complaint said.

Court records show Chase pleaded guilty April 4 to a disorderly conduct charge filed by Moon Township police. She was ordered to pay a $373 fine and $1,920 in restitution.