By Michelle Witte
Provo Police arrested a Salt Lake City man Friday in connection with a string of forgeries across Utah.
Provo detectives arrested Francisco Gilbert Salcedo, 27, after an extensive investigation in both Utah and Salt Lake Counties. Police linked him to several cases of forgery, possession of a forged drivers license and identity theft.
So far, investigators have been able to identify 16 different names and identifications Salcedo allegedly used, with more cases expected to emerge in the next few days.
'It''s just kind of snowballing,' said Detective Mark Petersen of the Provo Police Department. 'I have no idea how many we''re going to have. I have a feeling it''s going to be very substantial. I''m not looking forward to it. We''ve got him, at least.'
Police allege that Salcedo made his own checks and drivers licenses then used them to buy merchandise throughout Utah and Salt Lake Counties. Officials said Salcedo created the fake identities with his picture and about five or six checks for each of the people he invented.
He then allegedly went shopping at stores like Home Depot, K-Mart and Office Max, buying plasma-screen TVs and digital cameras. Officials estimated the value of the merchandise at $20,000, although more cases of forgery may increase that number substantially.
Police identified Salcedo last month with the help of the Home Depot loss prevention manager Brian Hooley, who oversees both Utah and Salt Lake Counties.
Hooley made a connection between one of the names Salcedo allegedly used on his checks at the Home Depot. He then tracked all of the purchases made at Home Depot with the false accounts and linked the information to figure out Salcedo''s real identity.
'We knew who was,' Petersen said. 'We knew what he was buying. We knew how he was doing it. We just didn''t know where he was at and neither did the Salt Lake detective.'
Police then distributed Salcedo''s picture at all the Home Depots so employees would recognize him if he came back.
Late Friday afternoon Home Depot notified Provo Police that Salcedo was wandering around in the store. About eight patrols waited at the scene for Salcedo to leave the store and stopped him as he left in his car.
Officers found a fake Utah drivers license and several forged checks with the same name in Salcedo''s car.
Salcedo has been charged with 16 counts of forgery and only one count of identity theft in Utah County because one of the fake drivers license numbers he used actually belonged to a real person, Petersen said. Salt Lake County also has a warrant out for Salcedo''s arrest and will file more charges soon.
Provo Police will continue to work with other police departments in the area to determine how many forgery cases he will be charged with.