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Published on 09/11/1995 All articles from this issue

Los Altos bank, police team to nab suspect passing phony checks

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Bank employees at the Los Altos branch of Bank of the West on Third Street helped police catch a woman who tried to cash counterfeit checks in their bank Sept. 6 at 2:30 p.m.

The woman came into the bank with phony checks and identification that matched everything on the checks, Los Altos Police Sgt. Bob Lacey said.

Bank employees noted the license plate and a description of the car, called police, and identified the woman after the Los Altos Police stopped the car.

She was Sharon Hovater, 49, of Daly City, Lacey said. Her companion was identified as Pamela Hanson, 32, of San Francisco.

"They had three different sets of false ID matching the checks," Lacey said.

The women were arrested on felony charges of possession of false ID for purposes of fraud, possession of counterfeit checks, attempting to pass the checks and conspiracy. One of the women was also charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance, Lacey said.

As of last Friday, each woman was being held at the County Correctional Center for Women in Milpitas on $50,000 bail, said a jail spokeswoman.

"This was good work by the bank employees," Lacey said.

Employees of Bank of the West declined to comment for fear of reprisals.

"This is an ongoing investigation because of the other IDs and multiple checks," Lacy said.

Employees at other banks in Los Altos were reluctant to give details about what might alert them to a customer with fraudulent identification that matched their checks. The employees don't want to give crooks any tips.

"Our tellers get full training on any transactions they do," said Janna Morrison, manager of the Los Altos branch of Wells Fargo on State Street. "As a financial institution, we must protect the bank's customers and assets," she said.

Citibank does not cash checks for non-customers, said Jo Stone, customer relations manager at the Los Altos branch of Citibank on Main Street.

Citibank teller Kellie Kopp said intuition helps.

"Sometimes the chemistry the customer gives off - it clicks and you know something is wrong," she said.

Kopp speculated that people from out of the area might choose Los Altos for passing bad checks because it's a friendly place.

"People go where they think everybody trusts everybody else," Kopp said.