SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) - For a person who wants to cash a check, one just needs to go to a bank or a place that provides this service, sign the check, and then get their cash. However, a Cascade woman allegedly had her own way of getting cash from checks, but she reportedly took an added step, possibly because the checks were stolen.
That is what Sheboygan County prosecutors say 23 year old Rose Krueger did back in late December. Four charges of uttering a forgery were filed Wednesday for each check she is accused of using to get over 900 dollars.
The criminal complaint states the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department was called January 16 to investigate a theft of checks from a home. The owner of the checks said two were personal, and the other two were connected to his business. He found out through his bank that the four checks were used, written out for just over 12-hundred dollars.
The owner said he suspected Krueger was a suspect, saying she had been living with him and his son because the son was dating her. She moved out December 28 and, shortly after, he noticed the four checks were missing.
Looking closer at the paperwork from the bank, it showed that the four checks were used at the three Walmarts in Sheboygan County. The department then reached out to the Sheboygan and Plymouth locations, and they provided information that confirmed the checks were used there. They also showed who used the checks, which the department identified as Krueger.
Each incident was similar in style. At the Plymouth and Sheboygan South Walmart stores December 28, the Sheboygan North Walmart December 29, and the Sheboygan South Walmart again December 30, surveillance video reportedly showed Krueger buying items and using a check to purchase them. Some of the checks were written out for 20-dollars more than the total to get a cash advance. Immediately afterwards, the suspect would take the items to the return area to get a cash refund. The four transactions resulted in over 900 dollars in cash given to the suspect.
The department was also aided by the Sheboygan County Detention Center. They were given access to the center’s phone system where Krueger, who was spending time there in mid-January, had called her boyfriend. The conversation reportedly included the boyfriend asking Krueger about the stolen checks, and Krueger allegedly said she was the one responsible for taking them. She repeatedly apologized for the crime.
Eventually, the department interviewed Krueger about the check use. The complaint states Krueger admitted to taking the checks and using them, confirming the dates that match with Walmart and bank records. She added she would sign the checks with an “x”, she threw them away after she got them back, and blamed her actions on the fact she needed cash to buy drugs because of a heroin addiction.
Krueger now faces up to 24 years in prison, plus fines up to 40-thousand dollars, if she is found guilty of all four charges.