Woman arrested for forging check at bingo game

A 23-year-old Brooksville woman was arrested Saturday after she admitted to deputies she forged a check at a Masaryktown bingo hall.

Amanda Thomas entered the Masaryktown Community Center at 539 Lincoln Ave. and approached the cashier for the Saturday Night Bingo game with two packages of bingo cards: one for $57 and another for $54, according to a sheriff's report.

Thomas also bought a $2 lucky number and paid $10 for "Double Action," bringing her total purchase to $123.

Thomas wrote out a Bank of America check for $155 with the company name of Nu-Tech Carpet Master Inc. She signed the check with the name "Jennifer Wood." The Masaryktown Community Center refunded her $32 in cash for food purchases.

Deputies approached Thomas as she left the community center and she identified herself as Jennifer Wood, even producing a photo identification with that name.

But after deputies read Thomas her Miranda rights, she admitted to being Amanda Thomas and signing the check under a different name. She told deputies she found the checkbook on the sidewalk and the Florida identification card at a Wal-Mart bathroom.

Deputies arrested Thomas for felony forgery, uttering a forged instrument, criminal use of an identification and petit theft.

She was taken to the Hernando County Jail and placed under a $4,250 bond.