A Syracuse woman is facing three counts of forgery after allegedly writing checks on her boyfriend’s account after he was killed in an accident that she may have caused.
Leslie Ann Patrick, 39, of 7631 N. CR 600E, Syracuse, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 11:10 a.m. Wednesday for forgery, with bond set at $10,000 surety and $250 cash.
Court documents filed April 10 list the charges against her as three counts of forgery, level 6 felonies.
She was arrested Feb. 22 for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death, a level 5 felony, with an enhancement to make it a level 4 felony.
On Feb. 14, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy Neil Likens spoke with Penny Short, who said her brother, Kevin Hobbs, was involved in an automobile accident on Aug. 11 that resulted in his death on Aug. 18. After Aug. 11, Hobbs was paralyzed and on a ventilator and unresponsive.
Short said she learned that Hobbs’ girlfriend – Patrick – was writing checks and forging Hobbs’ name to the checks. Short obtained copies of the checks and provided them to Likens. She said Patrick also had forged Hobbs’ signature to the title of a white Dodge Ram pickup truck to put the title of the truck in her name.
Likens reviewed the checks and found that a check dated Aug. 15 to Patrick for $250 had Hobbs’ signature on it. Another check written to Pack Rat for $150 was dated Aug. 17 and also had Hobbs’ signature. A third check dated Aug. 10 and written to Pack Rat was for $150 and also had Hobbs’ signature.
Likens obtained a copy of the title of a 2006 Dodge Ram that was titled to Hobbs and had the purchaser information listed as Patrick. Seller information was signed off by Hobbs.
The owner of Pack Rat told Likens that on Sept. 28, a woman paid for a storage unit with a check for $150.
Patrick admitted to Likens that she game Hobbs’ check to Pack Rat for a storage unit. She also admitted to writing a check on Hobbs’ account to purchase groceries. She said she knew it was wrong, but wrote the checks and signed Hobbs’ name. She admitted she forged Hobbs’ signature on the title for the 2006 Dodge Ram truck to put the truck in her name.
Patrick, Hobbs and the driver of the other pickup truck, Ronald L. Swihart, 65, Rochester, were hospitalized after the Aug. 11 accident at the intersection of West U.S. 30 and North CR 500W, Atwood.
An investigative subpoena was issued to obtain the toxicology results for Patrick. These indicated she had marijuana and opiates in her system at the time of the crash, according to court documents.
Patrick told a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy that she was going north on CR 500W and that she did not see the other truck on U.S. 30 until she was already crossing the roadway.
Swihart said he was going west on U.S. 30 when Patrick’s truck failed to yield to him and drove in front of his vehicle, causing the accident.
Two witnesses traveling west on U.S. 30 and behind Swihart’s truck said they saw Patrick’s truck fail to yield.
