Over the course of two days Turlock Police officers arrested two men in connection with stolen checks, but the cases don’t appear to be connected.

In one case the checks were stolen from a mailbox and in the other they were taken from a drop off box at an apartment complex.

The first case came to light Tuesday afternoon when the police department received a call from a bank stating they had an individual attempting to cash a possibly fraudulent check.

The bank was suspicious about the check and called the person to whom they were issued. That person didn’t know the individual trying to cash the checks, later identified by the police as Christopher Mills, 27.

According to the police report, the checks had been altered to have them made out to Mills and were for higher amounts than when originally made. It was determined the checks had been stolen from a mailbox.

Officers were able to take Mills into custody without incident.

The second case began Thursday morning when a resident in the 400 block of Seaborg Street discovered their vehicle had been broken into and personal information had been taken, including identification and a credit card.

However, it was the credit card that gave authorities the location of the suspect when it was used at the Days Inn in Turlock to rent a room.

In the room rented with the purloined card was Scott Tackett, 26. He was in possession of the stolen identification and credit cards, as well as several checks, according to the police report. The checks were traced back to an apartment complex in Turlock. Police believe they were taken from a drop off box sometime between 6:30 p.m. March 1 and 9 a.m. March 2.

Tackett was arrested for identity theft and forgery.