A Florida woman has been charged after attempting to cash a forged check and for being in possession of stolen identification cards.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Cpl. Bruce Broyles of the Lehighton Borough Police Department in the case against Briana Atkinson:

On Jan. 8, police responded to the Community Bank in the 100 block of North First Street for a woman who passed a stolen ID card to bank tellers.

Atkinson, 32, was in a vehicle at the drive-through ATM in the driver seat of a red Volkswagen SUV with Quinton Brown, 26, of Missouri in the back seat.

Lehighton Borough Police found 50 forms of personal identification, driver’s licenses and credit cards in the car.

A teller said Atkinson was trying to cash a $2,800 check made payable to another woman. Atkinson provided the bank teller with a Vermont license and social security card belonging to the other woman.

When the teller tried to process this check, an alert was provided to the bank teller that this identification card had been stolen.

Atkinson’s identity was confirmed via a warrant out for her arrest (non-extraditable out of Florida) and matching tattoos observed on her.

Atkinson and Brown were transported to the borough police department, where Atkinson removed a brunette wig.

Atkinson said that she was picked up a little over a week ago in New York by three men because she owed one of them a substantial amount of money. In order to repay the debt, Atkinson conspired with the men to go to various banks in their choosing and cash checks they had stolen. She was provided with identification cards (which she assumes were stolen by the men) and wigs to appear as the person the check was being made payable to.

Atkinson said that she and three men stopped at a local gas station minutes away from the bank. At the gas station, two of the men got out of the vehicles, where Atkinson said she was given instruction to pick them back up after cashing the check.

Atkinson drove from the gas station, where a man she only knew as “Q” provided her with directions to get to the bank.

Atkinson stated that everything she did was at the direction of the man in the back seat she identified to be as “Q.” She said “Q” was obtaining these directives from another man who he was on the phone with.

Brown told Svetik that he was asleep in the car and had no knowledge of Atkinson’s activity.

Through the investigation, it was determined the vehicle’s registration plate had been concealed by an Auto Drive license plate cover. The registration plate bore to the vehicle was confirmed to be a Georgia temporary tag, which was for a 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan.

Atkinson faces charges of identity theft, criminal attempt, receiving stolen property, possessing instruments of crime, forgery, and receiving stolen property. Brown faces charges on five counts of criminal conspiracy.

Both are in the Carbon County Correctional Facility; Atkinson, in lieu of $200,000 cash bail, and Brown, in lieu of $100,000 cash bail, and are scheduled to have preliminary hearings Feb. 7 before District Judge Eric M. Schrantz of Jim Thorpe.