By MAIRE O’NEILLAn Albuquerque man who allegedly attempted to cash an altered check belonging to an elderly White Rock woman was bound over Friday to District Court following a preliminary hearing before Los Alamos Magistrate Court Judge Pat Casados.
Eric Sanchez, 29, is charged with forgery and having an open container in his vehicle.
Sanchez was arrested May 15 at Los Alamos National Bank in White Rock after he attempted to cash a forged check for $2,250 with the drive through teller, which appears to have been made out to Doctors Without Borders and then altered to reflect Sanchez’s name. An LANB teller testified at Friday’s hearing that she noticed the paper felt different and that she could see the words “Doctors” and “Borders” when she held up the check and that the ink used to write Sanchez’s name was lighter than the other ink on the check.
The victim of the forgery told the Court she had placed four checks in her mailbox May 13 and noticed the next day that they were gone. She said the check for $2,250 was made out to Doctors Without Borders.
Los Alamos Police Cpl. Gabriel Nieto also testified. In his initial incident report, Nieto said Sanchez told him he was going to cash a check he got when he sold a lady a piano. At Friday’s hearing the victim testified that she had never seen Sanchez before. During the arrest, Nieto recovered a quarter-full bottle of vodka on the floor of the vehicle, which is the basis for the open container charge.
Judge Casados found probable cause that both crimes had been committed and that Sanchez had committed them. The case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kent Wahlquist and the defense attorney is Tyr Loringer. No date has yet been set for arraignment in District Court.
