Miguel Raymond Castro

Two misdemeanor counts of theft have been upped to felony charges after police discovered a Warsaw man was a repeat offender.

On July 1, Warsaw police responded to a report of check fraud at Builder’s Mart. Manager Tom Ness told police that, on June 30, Miguel Castro had ordered 15 bundles of shingles, which were delivered to an address on Union Street. Castro wrote a check for $350 for the shingles, then returned the shingles to Builders Mart.

On July 1, Castro wrote a check for $459.30 for 15 more bundles of shingles, plus roofing nails, then attempted to return those, too. It was then discovered that both checks had been written on a closed account.

Police spoke with Castro, who reportedly became nervous and left the building. Warsaw Police Officer Allan Danko spotted Castro heading southbound on Detroit Street and pulled him over. It was then that Danko spotted shingles in the back of the car.

Police contacted Indiana Lakes Federal Credit Union, where Manager Dave Brumbaugh told them Castro had opened the account on May 25, then closed it on June 18.

Police arrested Castro on two counts of misdemeanor theft and two of misdemeanor check fraud. The theft charges were later upped to felonies when it was discovered that Castro was convicted of theft in 2009 and in 2013.