Velma woman accused of stealing checks from her stepmom

DUNCAN — An arrest warrant was issued Monday for a Velma woman accused of stealing more than $7,600 from her stepmom by using bogus checks.

The Stephens County District Court issued a felony arrest warrant for Kara Kelley, a.k.a. Kara Dean Mills, 39, for a count of uttering two or more bogus checks together, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to five years in prison.

A Stephens County Sheriff’s deputy was called June 9 to a home in Velma and met with Kelley’s stepmother, who wanted Kelley removed from the home. She said they’d gotten into an argument about the stepdaughter cashing fraudulent checks from her account, the warrant affidavit states.

The stepmother said she’d become suspicious about her personal bank account and called the bank where she found Kelley had written over $3,000 from her and her father’s checking account. When confronted, she said, things turned physical before she went to her room and Kelley waited on the back porch, according to the affidavit

Kelley was escorted from the property. She said her stepmother had given her the checks and permission to write them, the affidavit states.

The stepmother told Sheriff’s Investigator Daniel Picazo that of the 20 checks written by Kelley, five were for her rent, the affidavit states. She showed cashed checks that had a signature she said wasn’t hers and that Kelley doesn’t have her permission to use the checking account.

Picazo stated $7,625.75 was found taken from the account.

A $10,000 cash warrant bond was issued upon Kelley’s arrest.