Forgery suspect arrested claiming to be the lawn service man

On Wednesday, Oct. 14, around 10:39 a.m. Cleveland Police Department Officer E. Fleming was dispatched to Austin Bank at 807 East Houston here in Cleveland in reference to a male attempting to pass a fraudulent check.

Upon Fleming’s arrival she was directed to the male suspect who presented the forged check.  The suspect was wearing a safety vest and claimed to be working in the area. Officer Fleming was shown the check by the teller and Fleming noticed the check to be similar to a previously reported forged check passed on the same account days before.

The employees of Austin Bank did a great job recognizing the check to be suspicious, and notifying law enforcement right away. I also want to commend Officer Fleming for being attentive to the previous forgery cases involving the citizen’s personal business bank account, that had already been breached.

Fleming said, verification was made with the account holder “that the check was not good.” The suspect was immediately taken into custody by Fleming and  transported to the Cleveland Police Department Jail where he was booked-in, and charged with forgery of financial instrument, a state jail felony. The suspect arrested was Eric Hunter Tizzano, 47, of Houston. He was later transferred to the Liberty County Jail and his bond was set at $5,000.

This is an on-going investigation due to previous bogus checks being passed on this same account.