By Ray King
A Pine Bluff man arrested while attempting to cash a fraudulent check told police he had been involved in the theft of copper wire on three different occasions.
Corey Thomas, 38, was taken into custody initially after police were sent to Relyance Bank at 1501 E. Harding Ave., at 4:13 p.m. Wednesday in response to a black male attempting to cash a fraudulent check.
During a court hearing Friday, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Karres Manning described the events that led to the arrest.
A company representative also told police no check had been written to Thomas and they did not know him.
When he was interviewed, Thomas initially claimed he had done some work for the company but did not know the name of the company that was on the check and later admitted he did not receive the check from the company.
Thomas also told police he had stolen copper wire from AT&T on three different occasions, Sept. 19, Sept. 21 and Aug. 4.
Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set a $5,000 bond for Thomas after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with forgery and three counts of theft of property. Thomas was told to come back to Court Nov. 15.
