Houston Police Chief Jim McNiell has issued a warning to area businesses to immediately be on the lookout for a woman notorious for passing bad checks.
McNiell said businesses should beware of checks from a white female that bear the name “Gary Richardson.” The checks are from closed accounts at Progressive Ozark Bank and Community First Bank in Mountain Grove.
McNiell said authorities in neighboring communities have reported that the woman has been busy lately passing bad checks in Howell and Wright counties. He said the same woman has passed 12 bad checks locally and could well return to do it again.
“I caution the business owners in Houston and the surrounding area to help us by not accepting any checks on these accounts,” McNiell said. “If an attempt is made by her at a local business, the police department is requesting that as much information as possible is gathered about her, like the license plate number of her vehicle, a vehicle description and her direction of travel.
“This community has already fallen victim to this lady 12 times and with her all of a sudden going wild again passing these checks knowing that they’re bad, I don’t want us to be victimized again. She needs to be stopped, and if she comes up here again, businesses could be of help to us in finding her.”
Anyone with information about the woman is encouraged to call the Houston Police Department at 417-967-3348.