A 39-year-old man was arrested after he attempted to cash a fake check and was found with 10 forms of fraudulent identification, an Odessa Police Department affidavit detailed.
Tony Clint Simmons Jr. was charged Saturday with forgery, a state jail felony, tampering with government record with intent to defraud or harm, a state jail felony, and fraudulent use or possession of identifying information, a second-degree felony.
At 10:18 p.m. Saturday, OPD officers responded to Kwik Kash located at 2804 Andrews Highway in reference to forgery, the affidavit stated.
Simmons attempted to cash a $2,968.23 check payable to Noel Garcia II from Ajuua’s Mexican Restaurant, while using a Texas identification card belonging to Noel Garcia II but with a photo of Simmons glued over the photo of Garcia to cash the check, the affidavit detailed. The check appeared to have been altered by white out and changed the payable to and amount and then copied onto watermarked check paper.
Julian Rubio, a manager at Ajuua’s Mexican Restaurant, stated the original check was paid to a Jose Yanez on Jan. 11 for $17.35. Rubio stated no check was written to Noel Garcia II and the check present by Simmons didn’t look like a check from Ajuua’s Mexican Restaurant.
After Simmons was arrested, his vehicle was impounded as it was running outside Kwik Kash, the affidavit stated. Simmons’ vehicle was inspected and officers found a North Dakota ID card, three Texas temporary ID’s and a one Texas temporary drivers license, all with the name Jason Ray Hughes, while two Texas ID cards had the name Jason Matthew Hughes. All identifications had photos of Simmons glued or superimposed over the photo. Officers also found a Texas Department of Criminal Justice offender identification card and social security card belonging to Jacob Chase Owen inside the vehicle.
Simmons was charged, arrested and transported to the Ector County Law Enforcement Center. He has three bonds totaling $70,000 and was still in custody as of Monday afternoon, jail records show.
