Man in woman's clothing arrested for phony checks

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Police have caught a man who they say dressed as a woman while writing over $11,000 in fake checks to stores in the city.

Damian Anthony Mills, 32, has been charged with eight counts of forgery. He was arrested at an apartment in Lithonia last week, and police recovered most of the items that were taken from several stores in Peachtree City, said Peachtree City Police Chief James Murray.

The items, which included antique furniture and paintings, were found stored in a U-Haul truck that was located near Mills' apartment, Murray said. Peachtree City Police executed the search warrant with assistance from DeKalb county officials.

Mills would dress as a woman, wearing a wig, while passing phony checks in local stores, police said.

Mills was released from jail in December after serving a year and a half on fraud charges, Murray noted. Mills was originally sentenced to five years in prison, Murray said.

Mills had 33 different aliases and used checks that were printed with the bank account numbers of wealthy people, Murray said.

The arrest might break similar cases in other jurisdictions, the chief added.

"We have had inquiries from seven different states on this individual," Murray said.