By Ray King

A White Hall man who has pending forgery charges was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly attempted to cash a forged check at a business.

Jason Hines, 48, was taken into custody by Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. who had been called to the Little Brown Jug liquor store by its owner, John Smykla, in response to a reported attempted forgery.

During a court hearing Friday, Deputy Prosecutor Caleb Conrad explained why the owner called Woods.

Sheriff’s Investigator Terry Wingard reported that Evergreen Packaging was contacted and confirmed that Hines did not work for them and that the address on the check he was attempting to cash was incorrect.

Hines was taken to the adult detention center and agreed to make a statement and Conrad discussed what Hines said.

Conrad said Hines passed nine different checks and with the 122 that were still on the thumb drive, the total amounted to over $52,000. Hines also has five counts of second-degree forgery and one count of theft of property pending in circuit court.

Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set a $10,000 cash-only bond for Hines after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with second-degree forgery. Hines was told to come back to court on May 25.