Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508040070
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAXON VAN DERBEKEN LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
For four years, Gregg Dohring paid the rent at rundown motels and supported a drug habit by cashing in on the discarded treasure mined from Dumpsters behind Ventura Boulevard banks, police say.
With the bounty - checks and signature cards torn up and thrown away by the banks - the 37-year-old parolee parlayed his former job experience at a bank with a personal computer to fashion authentic-looking checks made payable in his name.
None of the checks exceeded $500.
And there was nothing conspicuous about the gray suit he wore to cash his creations every two weeks.
``He was trolling the garbage, getting checks, pretty much computerizing his own checks from companies in the San Fernando Valley,'' said Detective P.J. Green of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Forgery detail.
``What kills most people is they get greedy - this guy is by no stretch of the imagination greedy.''
In the end, Dohring's mouth, not his greed, exposed his system when he bragged to an LAPD narcotics officer about his activities. It may take police weeks to fathom the loss in an understated scam police say was carried out by a man they describe as ``not your usual idiot doper.''
So far, police have only tied Dohring to $2,000 in forged checks. But based on his statements to police, every two weeks Dohring donned the single gray suit he owned and passed one of his checks he printed up on stock paper he had requested through the mail.
Dohring, Green said, always kept the amount of his forged checks below $500 and targeted accounts with large balances. He told police he did not want to go after people short on cash or go overboard.
``He only cashes his check once every couple of weeks, enough to maintain his lifestyle,'' Green said. ``And that's it. He doesn't want to hurt anybody.''
Police found Dohring by accident.
On Tuesday, Dohring, who had convictions for petty theft, was spotted by LAPD Detective Robert Holcomb outside a run-down single story motel. Holcomb struck up a conversation with the man, whom he suspected to be under the influence of marijuana.
``We see a guy standing outside his motel room, who really starts talking to me,'' Holcomb said. ``I start talking to him and determine he is under the influence. We couldn't shut him up.''
Although Holcomb said he identified himself as a narcotics officer, Dohring proudly showed off his computer, printer and his assortment of various types of papers used to mimic the stock used to print checks.
He also boasted about his scam.
``He just started talking,'' Holcomb said, ``talking to the wrong person.''
Dohring was charged Wednesday with two counts of forgery and one count of making and possessing a fictitious check with the intent to defraud. He was also charged with possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.
by CNB