A burglary in Port Gamble led to a case of fraud, forgery and drug possession in Poulsbo, in which two men were arrested.
At approximately 9 a.m. Dec. 3 a Poulsbo police officer responded to a reported case of check fraud at Liberty Bay Bank in Poulsbo after a tip from a Kitsap County sheriff’s deputy that said it could be connected to a burglary they were investigating.
A Port Gamble man, later identified as Jake Nelson, 30, allegedly was trying to cash a check for a Dustin Goodwin, according to documents from Poulsbo police and the Kitsap County sheriffs office.
The Poulsbo officer saw Nelson attempt to get into a silver Honda Civic before it drove off. The officer detained Nelson as he matched the description of the suspect until the deputy arrived.
Nelson allegedly gave the officer a false name and birthdate before eventually providing the real information regarding the incident and the people in the Civic.
Nelson told the officer that he had been given permission by Goodwin to cash the check, Goodwin reportedly was sick and had warrants out for his arrest and could not do it himself. Nelson also told the officer that Jordan Nelson was driving the Honda and allegedly was selling drugs in the parking lot.
Nelson noted that he had seen things in the Honda, like laptops and checks, and eventually admitted that Jordan Nelson had filled out the check that he was trying to cash.
A statement from the bank teller who interacted with Nelson stated that he had tried to pass the check off as one from work. The teller noted that it was odd that Nelson did not have two forms of identification, that the memo portion of the check said work and that the handwriting on the check was sloppy.
When the teller took the check, she contacted the real owner of the check who had just spoken with a KCSO deputy about a burglary at her business in Port Gamble.
Nelson was arrested on suspicion of forgery and false/misleading statements and is facing a $150,000 bail.
Meanwhile, KCSO detectives searched for Jordan Nelson 27, who was now a suspect in the Port Gamble burglary.
A KCSO deputy report says Jake Nelson had told him that he saw Jordan and another accomplice bring in a bag full of laptops to the accomplice’s house.
Jordan Nelson was stopped by KCSO in Kingston. His Honda and another vehicle were searched, and items from the burglaries were recovered.
Jordan Nelson was arrested for allegedly being in possession of stolen property. While being searched during his arrest, deputies reportedly found two ziplock bags of methamphetamine, adding possession of a controlled substance to his arrest, resulting in a $50,000 bail.
