A Newark man finds himself behind bars in Hackensack after he allegedly tried to cashed a large check at a Lyndhurst bank using a fake ID, Det. Lt. Vincent Auteri, the Lyndhurst Police Department’s public-information officer, said.
According to Auteri:
On June 11, 2024, Officer Michael D’Alessandro responded to Citizen’s Bank on Ridge Road to investigate a report of a man who was alleged to have attempted to pass a bad check. Upon his arrival, Officer D’Alessandro was joined by Dets. Tom McSweeney and Steve Batista, who were advised at that time the suspect had fled the bank after being challenged by a bank teller.
Officer D’Alessandro immediately broadcasted a description of the suspect. Lt. Paul Haggerty and Officers Edward Montoya, Nicollette Villani and Sal Wartel had converged on the area and immediately set up a perimeter.
Moments later, the aforementioned officers located the suspect around the block from the bank.
The suspect had attempted to cash a $3,400 check. The suspect — Russel Fastnacht, 52, of Newark, allegedly presented the teller with a forged driver’s license under a different name — but with his photo. The name on the license matched the name in which the check had been made payable.
At the time of his arrest, police said Fastnacht was was also in possession of heroin and multiple stolen credit cards.
Charges levied against Fastnacht included forgery by uttering a bad check, knowingly exhibiting a false government document, identity theft, credit card theft and possession of heroin.
Fastnacht, meanwhile, was remanded to the Bergen County Jail, Hackensack, pending court. Police say this is not is first foray into crimes of this nature.
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