ST. GEORGE — A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly attempting to cash four checks totaling several thousand dollars, all of which were refused by the two financial institutions the suspect had opened accounts at just days before.
At the time of the arrest, police were dispatched to a bank on Brigham Road in St. George on a call involving a man attempting to cash a fraudulent check, according to charging documents filed with the court. Responding officers were advised the suspect was in a blue pickup truck in one of the bank’s drive-thru lanes.
The truck was still there when officers pulled in and spoke to the driver, 42-year-old Bryan Anthony Lange Sr.
The suspect was asked to pull forward where he was detained while officers went into the bank to obtain more information. The bank president told officers Lange had attempted to cash a $2,000 counter check issued from Rock Canyon Bank after Lange opened an account there two days before.
The bank president told officers that he was notified by Rock Canyon Bank that Lange had allegedly attempted to cash two checks there, one for $5,000 and the other for $2,000, both of which were issued by Zions Bank.
When officers followed up with Rock Canyon Bank, the customer service manager reported the suspect had opened an account there on Tuesday, the same day he opened the Zions Bank account. Later that same day, the suspect went into Rock Canyon Bank and attempted to cash a $5,000 counter check issued from Zions Bank, but the check did not go through, the bank service manager told police.
According to the report, the suspect admitted that he attempted to cash each of the checks “knowing he did not have the money in the bank” and told police that he was going through a rough time due to COVID-19.
Lange was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility facing one second-degree felony count of issuing a bad check or draft with bail requirements of $2,500.
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