Hunter
02/22/21
A Davenport man who is accused of stealing checks and buying over $2500 in merchandise with them last summer has been arrested.
Police say that 52-year-old Paul Bell was in possession of stolen checks when he went to Theisen’s in Coralville the evening of August 26th and reportedly wrote out two checks in the amount of $749.38 and $1854.99. He allegedly signed them with the victim’s name, and the victim verified that it was not his signature.
Surveillance footage shows Bell giving the check to the cashier after the transactions. The victims of the stolen checks identified Bell using the footage. Bell also allegedly wrote a false operator’s license number on the checks.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on September 28th. He was taken into custody Saturday and charged with Identity Theft over $1500 and less than $10,000. If convicted, Bell faces up to five years in prison.
