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Police: Suspect had mobile forgery setup

Contributed

George Benge

By Richelle Bailey | The McDowell News

Published: June 18, 2009

A Gaston County man's statewide check scam recently came to a halt when local authorities got on his trail.
On May 27 and 28, the suspect passed two phony checks at Kwik Mart in Marion using fictitious names and licenses, according to Investigator Rick Gutierrez of the Marion Police Department.
Then, on June 4, he attempted to pass another check at CJ's and employees there refused it, Gutierrez stated. The man grabbed cigarettes and a six-pack of beer and fled the store.
Workers at CJ's notified police of the incident and gave them a description of the man and the car in which he left. Cpl. R.J. Cyr of the Marion Police Department stopped the Hyundai Accent on N.C. 226 South. He found the suspect inside and got him out of the vehicle. The man fled, leapt down a bank and got away, said Gutierrez, but left his fake license behind.
In the meantime, Detective Jennifer Trantham of the McDowell County Sheriff's Department was looking for a perpetrator who passed four counterfeit checks at four local businesses on May 30. He was caught on video surveillance at one of the stores.
The suspect was presenting checks made payable to Donald Carver on an account belonging to Robinson's Excavating of Old Fort. Robinson's Excavating is a legitimate local business, but the checks weren't.
The checks received in both the city and county were identical, so investigators knew they were looking for the same suspect.
Gutierrez notified the U.S. Secret Service and sent them the picture of the man on the license left behind during the vehicle stop.
While local authorities were searching for him, the man went to a Gaston County hospital because he broke his foot when he fled from Marion officers, according to Gutierrez. A Gastonia police officer just happened to be at the hospital at that time, recognized the suspect and knew Gaston County officers had outstanding arrest warrants for him, said the Marion investigator.
He was taken into custody in Gastonia, and, near the same time, Secret Service agents were able to obtain the suspect's true identity from the photo they were given.
Gutierrez charged George O'Dell Benge, 44, of Gastonia with one count of attempting to obtain property by false pretense.
He said Benge requested that federal authorities take over his case because he was wanted in several counties in North Carolina and other states. Gutierrez and Trantham have both turned their work over to the Secret Service.
Gutierrez said Benge traveled with a laptop computer and printer. He had several fake IDs on his computer. He would see a name of a business on the side of a truck and make checks out under that business' name. He would then print off a false license and take the check into a store and cash it, according to Gutierrez.
The investigator called Benge a "hardcore criminal," saying he had been convicted of many violent, property and sex crimes over two or three decades.