A Leesburg woman who’s already been arrested three times this year is back behind bars after she reportedly cashed a forged check at Amscot.
Sheri Fay Watson, 40, of 643 W. Oak Terrace Apt. 4, was charged last week with uttering a forged check, petit theft of less than $750, and criminal use of personal ID information. Watson’s prior arrests include one in May at Walmart, where she was charged with retail theft and possession of methamphetamine. She also was arrested twice for domestic battery, once in February and the other time in June, according to Lake County Jail records.
A Leesburg police officer responded July 12 to the Bank of America branch at 401 N. 14th Street, where a 68-year-old woman reported she had been contacted by the bank about a suspicious check processed through Amscot. She said when she was shown the check by a bank employee, she recognized it was from an old account, as it had her former last name and former address. She estimated checks from that account were about 14 years old, according to the police report.
The check in question, No. 305, was dated July 4, 2022, and made payable to “Sheree Watson” in the amount of $250. The check had “housekeeping” written on the memo section and the face signature was the name of the victim, who said she did not authorize the check and the signature was a forgery. Due to the fact the check was from an old account, Bank of America did not hold the victim accountable for the monetary loss, the report said.
The victim said her son had been in town recently and helped her with some house cleaning. She said they disposed of some items and her old checkbook had apparently been mixed in with the things that had been tossed. The victim said she believed the trash and checkbook were disposed of in a dumpster at a business on State Road 44 near the intersection of County Road 468, according to the report.
The officer searched Leesburg Police Department records for “Sheree Watson” and found multiple contacts for “Sheri Watson,” but he couldn’t verify they were the same person. A subpoena was issued to Amscot for any records and security video related to the transaction. The documents and video were received Aug. 3, the report said.
A review of the documents showed the person who cashed the check was Sheri Watson, with an address in Tavares. The documents included a financial services agreement, a copy of Watson’s driver’s license, a copy of the forged check and a copy of the receipt where Watson was given $225.25 in cash, according to the report.
The officer reviewed video of the transaction and determined that at 5:49 a.m. July 6, a gray Nissan pulled up in front of Amscot, 1100 W. North Blvd. Motor vehicle records show Watson owns a gray 2016 Nissan Altima. The woman shown in the video getting out of the vehicle and going into Amscot was clearly identifiable based on known photographs of Watson. Another officer compared the signature on the check with Watson’s signature on file with the DHSMV and found them to be significantly similar, the report said.
A warrant for Watson’s arrest was issued last Wednesday and she was arrested Thursday. Watson is being held on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Oct. 17.
