Prosecutors throw the book at 'prolific' ID theft and forgery suspect in Tacoma

TACOMA, Wash. -- The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office arraigned Kelsea Bernhardt on 14 counts of Identity theft, theft and forgery Monday. She was arrested Friday night by the Washington State Patrol and booked into the Pierce County jail on her outstanding warrants.

Bernhardt was featured on Washington’s Most Wanted after Tacoma Police accused her of stealing and then forging checks in her own name. Bail was set at $260,000. Deputy Prosecutor Mark Sanchez argued for a high bail because of her 13 prior felony convictions. The prosecutor’s office has classified her as a ‘High Priority Offender’.



“Our High Priority Offender Program uses data, technology, and intel to identify and target the small percentage of offenders who are causing a large percentage of crimes,” said Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist. “The goal is to reduce crime and make our community safer.”

Tacoma Police say Bernhardt’s victim put two checks in his outgoing mail to pay his bills on December 16, 2016. The next day, Columbia Bank notified him that someone had cashed one of the checks for $750.00. Detectives say bank surveillance video shows Antonio Overby and Bernhardt enter the Spanaway branch. Each went to a different teller with the forged checks. Detectives say Overby successfully cashed a stolen check.



Police say Bernhardt tried to cash one check that had been altered to read $1,000. “The teller actually called the owner of the check and determined the check had been stolen. Before Kelsea could obtain any money, she realized that the teller was checking on her so she fled the bank leaving the check behind,” said Officer Loretta Cool with Tacoma Police. Overby was arrested on January 17th and remains in the Pierce County jail charged with numerous ID Theft and Forgery cases.

Mail theft is a widespread problem for many communities in Washington. “It’s unfortunate that you can’t leave things in your mailbox but we do have a lot of thefts just from unsecured mailboxes,” said Officer Cool. Police encourage everyone to sign up to pay bills online whenever possible to avoid having checks stolen. “We advise people not to put written checks out in their mail, especially if their mailbox isn’t locked. When you clip your mail to your mailbox and the mailbox is open and people walking by or driving by can see you have five or six letters clipped to the mailbox, they know people are paying their bills and then you’re increasing your opportunity of becoming a victim,” said Officer Cool.