An October report to police of checks being removed from an elderly woman’s checkbook by her grandson has finally led to charges being filed in the case. Racine Police responded to a report on Oct. 17 that Jacob Enriquez, 24, of Milwaukee, had stolen two checks from the victim’s checkbook at her residence on Lombard Avenue in Racine on two separate occasions between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13.
Copies provide by the bank were made out to “Jacob Enriquez” and signed with the victim’s name. The victim told police that they were the only two checks missing from her checkbook, and that she recognized the handwriting as belonging to Enriquez. The checks had been deposited into an account belonging to the victim’s daughter at a separate bank. Surveillance video from that bank showed a male subject making an ATM transaction. Investigators noted that the subject in the video appeared to be Enriquez, when compared with a booking photograph.
On Nov. 24, police showed the victim the video of the checks being deposited, and she identified the man at the ATM as Enriquez, based, in part, on a tattoo on his hand.
Enriquez is charged with forgery and crime against an elderly person, which can carry a fine of $10,000 and six years in jail. By presenting the check to be deposited, Enriquez is charged with uttering a forgery against an elderly person, which carries similar penalties. He is also charged with felony personal ID theft, which, again, carries similar fines and jail time.
Bail was set at $500. Enriquez is due back in court Jan. 31. He is ordered to have no contact with the victim, her residence or family.