Photo by James Short.
A Norristown man is facing three dozen charges stemming from a pair of investigations by Upper Dublin Police into suspected check fraud and identity theft.
Nicholas Macon-Flippen, 20, was recently arraigned on seven counts of forgery, two counts of identity theft, two counts of access device fraud, seven counts of receiving stolen property, and numerous other charges across the two investigations. He is currently free on $10,000 unsecured bail.
The first investigation began on Nov. 3, 2023 following an early-morning traffic stop in the area of Bethlehem and Butler pikes. Police said a canine unit was brought to the location as part of the traffic stop, and after the canine indicated multiple alerts, the vehicle was impounded.
According to the criminal complaint, a search warrant was executed on the vehicle the next day, at which point police allegedly recovered seven checks belonging to various people from the front passenger seat, which was where Macon-Flippen was seated at the time of the traffic stop. A further search of the vehicle revealed additional checks, a notepad containing forged signatures and chemicals used to “wash” checks, the report states.
Multiple checks were rewritten Macon-Flippen, investigators said.
Several weeks later, while police were still investigating the alleged check fraud, they were dispatched to the Wells Fargo location along the 1600 block of North Limekiln Pike for a report of a man attempting to pass a bad check. Arriving police encountered Macon-Flippen in the parking lot and initiated a pedestrian stop, according to charging documents.
Investigators allege Macon-Flippen “washed” and rewrote a check that was initially made payable for $60.16 to the Philadelphia Water Revenue Bureau and changed it to $900 and payable to himself. Police later confirmed the check had been placed in the mail on Nov. 11, 2023, which was four days prior to the incident at Wells Fargo, the affidavit states.
Court records show Macon-Flipped was arraigned on Nov. 16, 2023 on charges related to the alleged check fraud at Wells Fargo. The remaining charges stemming from the traffic stop were filed on March 22, and Macon-Flippen was arraigned on April 19, court records show.
He has a combined preliminary hearing on the two cases on May 17 at 10:30 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Douglas Lavenberg.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
