Suspect arrested for forgery attempt at Umpqua Bank

A little before 11 a.m. on February 7, Lacey Police Department (LPD) officers responded to a report of a suspected forgery at Umpqua Bank.

The incident started when a bank staff notified authorities of a suspicious individual attempting to cash a fraudulent check.

The suspect, later identified as Britney Ortiz, was described as a white female with pink hair.

“The suspect had been sitting in the manager's office until she ran out of the bank and was last seen leaving in a red Acura,” the Lacey Police Department stated in its report.

One of the LPD officers located the suspect's vehicle in a nearby parking lot, leading to her apprehension.

The suspect was detained in the parking lot while another officer investigated the forgery attempt at the bank.

Authorities talked with one of the bank employees, and it was revealed that the suspect had presented a forged check, supposed to be from a company named Imagesource Inc., in the amount of $2,300.

The witness stated that the bank became suspicious after seeing irregularities in the check's printing and the history of suspicious activities associated with the account, further explaining that “the specific account for Imagesource Inc. had been flagged for previous suspicious activities related to forged checks.”

This incident was not the suspect's first alleged encounter with forgery after the bank staff recognized her from a previous related incident just a week prior. She allegedly had also cashed out a check with the same company as the payor in the amount of $1,088.86.

The bank employee went with the officer to the parking lot where the suspect was detained, and the witness confirmed that the woman currently being detained was the same person who attempted to cash the fraudulent check.

When interrogated, the suspect denied forging the checks, explaining that she had received the fraudulent checks from an unnamed individual who threatened harm to her child if she failed to comply.

“I had already confirmed that Ortiz's mother had been caring for Ortiz's 4-month-old child due Ortiz's history of drug use,” the LPD officer stated.

Further investigation revealed that the suspect was involved in a forgery incident at another bank in Tumwater that she denied having knowledge of.

Due to all the evidence gathered, police determined that there was probable cause to arrest the suspect, who was transported to Thurston County Jail.