2 face forgery, theft charges

PALMER -- Two Valley residents were scheduled to appear in Palmer District Court today for pre-indictment hearings on multiple felony charges involving forgery and theft.

Jennifer L. Neitzke, 29, of Wasilla, was arrested Feb. 28 by Alaska State Troopers on six counts of first-degree forgery, four counts of second-degree theft, one count of third-degree theft, and two counts of fourth-degree theft, according to charging documents.

Joshua R. Brown, 24, of Big Lake, was arrested Feb. 26 by troopers on four counts of first-degree forgery, four counts of second-degree theft, three counts of third-degree theft, one count of fourth-degree theft, and three counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, charging documents said.

First-degree forgery is a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Second-degree theft is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

The two originally were lodged at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in Palmer in lieu of $61,500 bail for Brown and $60,000 for Neitzke. Bail subsequently was lowered to $20,000 apiece.

Charging documents allege that Brown and Neitzke stole a checkbook from a car parked at Auto Care Center in Palmer and later forged the owner's name to write checks on a closed Wasilla Keybank account. A fraud investigator at Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union offered troopers handwriting samples from loan applications signed by Brown and Neitzke to compare with handwriting on the checks, court documents said.

Checks made out to Brown for $500, $650 and $650 were cashed at the credit union on Feb. 19 and 20, charging documents said, with handwriting comparisons indicating that Neitzke wrote the checks.

Checks for $35 to Mocha Moose and for $54.50 to Nobody's Inn also were written in the same fashion, charging documents said.

"The fraud investigator also informed me that there was another check in the system payable to Joshua Brown for $950," trooper Mark Hendrickson wrote in an affidavit.

Troopers arrested Brown and Neitzke at the Wasilla Pizza Hut at 6:20 p.m. on Feb. 28. Brown was found to have the stolen checkbook, the affidavit said.

Troopers also took methamphetamine and morphine from Brown, as well as three credit cards not in his name, charging documents said.

Troopers said they found a stolen checkbook linked to a burglary in Wasilla during their search of Neitzke.

Contact Steve Kadel at steve.kadel@frontiersman.com.