VERO BEACH — Authorities arrested a man Tuesday accused of forging and cashing two checks stolen from a home in Vero Beach still under investigation for a burglary.
Brandon Ciancio, 33, of 637 Tangelo Cir. SW, Vero Beach, is facing two felony counts uttering a forged instrument.
Authorities responded to a burglary in the 500 block of Catalina Street in Vero Beach on Tuesday after the homeowners noticed someone had removed the screen of an opened window and entered their home while they were away at church.
The victim told authorities two checkbooks to different PNC Bank accounts, 12 to 20 silver dollars, many quarters, $30 in cash bills, two to four diamond rings, and some early American dollar bills were missing from the home.
Communication with PNC Bank revealed two checks were cashed approximately 12 minutes apart at separate branches in the amounts of $940.15 and $845. Each check was signed with the forged signatures of one of the burglary victims.
Police ran the driver’s license given to the bank teller by the man who cashed the forged checks and traced it back to Ciancio.
A tip led police to a hotel room at Knights Inn in the 2000 block of US 1, where Ciancio was found.
Ciancio denied burglarizing any homes, and said he was given the checks by a subject who offered him $50 to cash them.
Police observed money scattered on the bed of the hotel room, and Ciancio told authorities there were pills and syringes in the room, according to the arrest report. Police also found silver dollars in the hotel room. Ciancio claimed the silver dollars were his but did not explain how he got them.
Ciancio told police he had taken several Xanax pills and was having trouble remembering the day.
Ciancio is being held at the county jail in lieu of $20,000 bond.
