3 Arrested In Bradley County For Altering And Cashing Stolen Checks

  • Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Three people have been arrested on multiple charges including forgery and theft under $1000, after altering and cashing stolen checks in Bradley County.

Michael Thornton, Precious Appleberry and Jennifer Pendergrass are currently in custody at the Bradley County Jail.

On June 9 and 15, BCSO deputies received two separate reports of checks being stolen out of the reporting victims’ mailboxes. Investigation revealed that, on separate occasions, an attempt had been made by Thornton to cash the checks — both altered to show his name and a different amount than originally written.

Upon further investigation, detectives from the Property Crimes Unit of the BCSO Criminal Investigations Division received a surveillance video from one of the banks, showing Thornton trying to cash one of the checks. Detectives also received a description of the vehicle that Thornton and a female suspect were seen in when leaving the bank.

On Monday, detectives located a vehicle of matching description at a hotel on Westside Drive. Thornton was located and arrested at the hotel on existing forgery warrants issued by the Cleveland Police Department.

Ms. Appleberry and Ms. Pendergrass were then located in a hotel room detectives were directed to by Thornton, who all provided consistent statements of admission to stealing, altering and attempting to cash the reported checks.

During the investigation, detectives recovered narcotics off of Thornton, as well as narcotics and paraphernalia off of Ms. Appleberry.

At this time, all three suspects have been charged with two counts of theft under $1000 and forgery. Additionally, Thornton and Ms. Appleberry have been charged with simple possession/casual exchange of Meth. Ms. Appleberry has also been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. 

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