Cedar City man faces forgery, theft charges

Stock Photo | St George News

CEDAR CITY – A Cedar City man was arrested Monday on charges of theft and forgery after it was discovered by the account holder that eight checks had been stolen from his checkbook and cashed at two different State Bank of Southern Utah locations.

David Wayne Langston, 55, of the 500 N. block of 400 West in Cedar City, was charged Monday with nine third-degree felonies including eight counts of forgery and one count of theft, according to the charging Information document filed with 5th District Court in Iron County.

David Wayne Langston, Iron County Jail, Cedar City, Utah, May 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Iron County Bookings, St. George News
David Wayne Langston, Iron County Jail, Cedar City, Utah, May 4, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Iron County Bookings, St. George News

The charging documents allege that on eight separate occasions, Langston made a check out to himself and forged the name of the account holder’s signature to access funds – withdrawals that were not authorized by the account holder. Between October and Nov. 10, 2014, Langston is accused of stealing $2,312.

Cedar City Police were informed about the activities by the account holder on Nov. 10, 2014, after the account holder made the discovery, and an investigation was opened.

Cedar City Police located surveillance video of Langston and a woman cashing some of the checks at the branch of State Bank of Southern Utah located in Wal-Mart in Cedar City. According to the officer’s affidavit, the woman both identified Langston and said she watched him write out two of the checks when she was in his home that same day.

The woman admitted to giving Langston a ride to cash the checks but told police that she believed they belonged to Langston, according to the officer’s affidavit. Langston told her, she said, that he would give her some money if she went to Las Vegas with him and wrote on of the checks out to her, then gave her $100 of the money he got from cashing the checks.

After investigation into the case, Deputy Iron County Attorney G. Tyler Romeril filed a proposal for a warrant on April 13 that was granted by 5th District Judge Keith C. Barnes on April 15.

The woman has not been charged at this time, and she has not been listed as a suspect, said Corporal Nate Williams with the Cedar City Police.

Langston, who was taken into police custody and remanded to the Iron County Jail on Monday, attended his initial court appearance via video from the jail before Barnes, according to court documents.

The court found Langston to be indigent and assigned Jeffery E. Slack as legal counsel. A preliminary hearing is scheduled with Judge John J. Walton on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 1 of the 5th District Courthouse, 40 N.  East, Cedar City.

Langston’s bail was set at $10,000. According to a representative at the Iron County Jail, Langston was released from jail May 7.

Consumers can protect themselves from check fraud situations by storing their deposit slips, checks, canceled checks and statements in a secure, locked location. The National Check Fraud Prevention Center website has a number of consumer tips to help avoid bank account fraud.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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