Mini mart owner thwarts alleged check scheme

An apparent fraudulent check scheme was stopped by a mini mart owner on Monday after he chased after a woman who allegedly tried to cash fake check at his business.

Danelle Morri, 25, was arrested Monday on suspicion of uttering a forged instrument, a felony. Her arrest came shortly after her alleged accomplice, Jordan Burkhart, 21, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, a felony.

Herbert Muro, 36, the owner of Video Centro Mini Mart, 2765 Highway 50 E., said on Tuesday that Morri had allegedly cashed a fraudulent $675 check at the mini mart on Sunday. Before Muro could involve the police on Monday, Morri returned to the store that afternoon to allegedly cash another fake check for $200.

When Muro confronted Morri she walked out of the store and entered a minivan waiting for her in the handicap parking spot with Burk-hart in the driver's seat and another unidentified woman in the front passenger seat.

Muro tried to grab Morri, but, "They were able to push me out," he said. "I said what am I going to do? I really don't like these people who try to get easy money from us. We work hard at what we do."

So as the minivan was backing up, Muro removed its front license plate. But then Burkhart allegedly put the vehicle in drive and started moving the car forward. With not much room between the minivan and the building, Muro thought he was going to be crushed by the vehicle.

Then Burkhart allegedly told Muro, "I'm coming back to get you," according to the police report, and backed up the minivan and drove away.

When the police arrived, Muro showed them the license plate, the ID card Morri used to cash the checks and video footage of the incident. They were able to trace the license plate back to the 1500 block of Gregg Street, where police found Burkhart and the woman who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

The woman helped lead police to Morri's location on the 1700 block of Brown Street. When police arrived, Morri ran inside the apartment, but later agreed to come out.

She is being held on $6,132 bail. Burkhart is being held on $20,000 bail.

Muro said he expects to take some losses in his check cashing business, "but when I have an opportunity to stop somebody, if it's not too dangerous, I'll take it."