PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man has been arrested on investigation of vehicle theft and forgery and booked on an extraditable warrant on 57 charges of theft, fraud and perjury, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said.
Christopher Asher, 59, was arrested Monday by the Port Angeles Police Department and detectives with the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET), the Sheriff’s Office said. He remained in the Clallam County Jail on Wednesday in lieu of $520,000 bond.
Asher allegedly purchased a vehicle from Koenig Subaru in Port Angeles on April 11 using a fraudulent $22,000 check, the Sheriff’s Office said. He allegedly wrote two additional checks that were rejected for insufficient funds, the agency reported.
Asher’s criminal history includes previous convictions for fraud, theft of property and unlawful issuance of bank checks, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies recovered Koenig’s stolen vehicle from Asher’s residence on May 19, the agency said. During that interaction, Asher provided the car key to deputies and acknowledged he did not pay for the vehicle. A probable cause statement was forwarded to the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s office at that time for vehicle theft and forgery, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Meanwhile, police in Fresno, Calif., contacted the Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 2 and said Asher had been involved in a fraud scheme in which he convinces car dealerships that he is purchasing vehicles for a leasing broker business in the car industry. Part of the scheme involves writing a check for a vehicle and then driving it off the lot before the check bounces, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The Fresno Police Department said Asher had an extraditable warrant for 57 charges of theft, fraud and perjury.
