Man Accused of Scamming Local Business with Fake Skills Machine Ticket Held for Court

BROOKVILLE BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) – A 38-year-old man who allegedly falsified a skills machine ticket at a local business to increase its value was held for court this week.

According to court documents, the following charges against Charles James Brooks, of Smicksburg, Indiana County, Pa. were held for court on Tuesday, July 9:

– Forgery – Unauthorized Act In Writing, Felony 2
– Tamper Records Or Id-Writing, Misdemeanor 1
– Theft By Deception-False Impression, Misdemeanor 1

The charges have been transferred to the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas.

Brooks remains free on $5,000.00 unsecured bail.

The charges stem from an incident that was reported in April.

Officer Stormer, of the Brookville Borough Police, was dispatched around 12:32 p.m. on April 30 to a business on Taylor Street for the report of a scam.

According to a criminal complaint, the store manager reported that an individual cashed in a fake $250.00 skills machine ticket.

The store manager also contacted the owner of the skills machine, and he reported that a similar incident occurred at one of his skills machine locations in Indiana County. He stated that “a suspect was identified as Charles James Brooks,” the complaint states.

Officer Stormer obtained a photo of Brooks through JNET, and by viewing the security camera, it was determined the person who cashed the fake ticket was Brooks, according to the complaint.

Through the investigation, it was learned that Brooks played the skills game and won a $1.00 ticket and cashed it in for $250.00 through a fake skills ticket, according to the complaint.

Officer Stormer stated that “physical evidence shows that Brooks took an authentic winning skills game ticket and used that to create a false impression (of) that the ticket,” the complaint indicates.

Officer Stormer filed the charges against Brooks on June 3.