Bail has been set at $50,000 for a Chehalis man accused of stealing a generator from a Longview residence and selling it in Centralia in April, then fraudulently manufacturing IDs of real people and attempting to sign checks from their accounts in July.
The generator was reportedly located in a pawn shop in Centralia on April 4, according to court documents. A Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office deputy contacted the Centralia Police Department about the generator and the suspected thief, identified as Scott Jones, 40, on May 1. Jones allegedly sold the generator for $1,200.
When contacted by a deputy, Jones allegedly “admitted to selling the generator to a pawn shop, but stated he had purchased it from another individual and did not know the generator was stolen,” according to court documents. Jones reportedly provided a bill of sale for the generator, which the deputy “ultimately determined … to be fraudulent,” according to court documents.
Several months later, on July 13, a deputy with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a possible $6,000 fraudulent check a male subject, who was later identified as Jones, had attempted to cash at a bank in Toledo.
Jones allegedly tried to cash the check by presenting an ID with a fake birthdate and a name belonging to a real 82-year-old woman. At the time, the bank, which “reported the identification shown by the male was clearly fraudulent,” told Jones “he would have to come back as they needed to verify the check” and contacted law enforcement, which set up across the street waiting for Jones to return.
Jones was detained when he returned to the bank, according to court documents.
When questioned by law enforcement, Jones allegedly insisted his name was the one on the fake ID. When told the woman “was actually (an) 82-year-old woman,” Jones, a 5’7” white male weighing 150 pounds, then allegedly presented law enforcement with another fake birthdate and a name belonging to a real Black male who is 6-foot-2 and weighs 185 pounds, according to court documents.
Law enforcement then took Jones to the Toledo Police Department and he allegedly “continuously refused to identify himself” until a deputy “eventually” identified the suspect as Jones.
Once identified, Jones allegedly admitted to attempting to cash the $6,000 check and to creating the two fake IDs, according to court documents.
Jones allegedly told the deputy “he gets the name off the dark web and then creates the identifications.” He said “he had all of the identification making material in his motor home” and said “he had a deal with another person to split the $6,000 proceeds from the check,” according to court documents.
Jones was released on July 13 “pending further investigation,” according to court documents.
The next day, the 82-year-old woman whose identity was stolen called law enforcement to report she knows Jones and “he did not have her permission to sign her name on any check,” according to court documents.
Deputies contacted Jones at his motor home in Chehalis that same day to obtain copies of the other forged identities. Jones allegedly provided six additional fraudulent identifications he had made. Law enforcement checked all six names and confirmed they belonged to real people, according to court documents.
Jones was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at 2:45 a.m. on July 29, according to jail records.
He was charged Monday with one count each of first-degree trafficking in stolen property, first-degree identity theft, forgery and first-degree attempted theft, in addition to six counts of manufacturing a driver’s license for financial gain or with the intent to commit forgery, theft or identity theft.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 3.
