By Pat Culverhouse

A background check on a check has landed a Minden woman in even more trouble after she was initially detained for suspected shoplifting at an East Union St. grocery store last week.

MPD Chief of Police Jared McIver said officers responded when 25-year-old Sara Marie Mireles, a resident of the 800 block of Fincher Rd., was detained by employees for allegedly attempting to steal items from the store. 

“While interviewing the store’s manager, Lt. Chris Hammontree was given a check which Mireles reportedly had tried to use earlier to purchase items. When the check would not meet approval, the manager said she ran from the store,” McIver said.

During a search at the store of Mireles’ backpack, officers reportedly found just over $10 in stolen items plus six loose Gabapentin pills, McIver said. When also questioned about the check, Mireles reportedly claimed it came from her grandmother who allegedly resided in a Texas nursing home.

“We called the individuals whose names were on the check and they advised it was an account which had been closed, and that the handwriting was not theirs,” McIver said. “They also did not know the individual we had in custody, nor how she could have managed to get possession of the check.”

McIver said Mireles has been charged with bank fraud and forgery, plus theft and possession of Legend drugs. She reportedly was transferred to Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center.

This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.