Police: Three arrested, fourth summonsed after attempted $35,000 check deposit at Somerset bank
A teller called the business named on the check, which said it was fraudulent, and officers boxed in the car a woman got into after walking through the Super Stop & Shop lot, before arresting two Fall River residents and a Swansea resident, police said.
SOMERSET Somerset police arrested three people and summonsed a fourth after a woman tried to deposit a fraudulent $35,000 check at the Citizens Bank branch on Route 6 on Oct. 28, the department said Saturday.
Andre Cairo, 41, and Rajheem Chardonnette, 32, both of Fall River, and Stasha Medeiros, 27, of Swansea were arrested, according to the department's statement; its October dispatch log lists the same names and ages. All four people were charged with attempting to commit a crime, uttering a false check and conspiracy, police said. The department did not name the fourth person.
A bank teller flagged the deposit, police said in the statement, posted Saturday evening on the department's Facebook page. The teller noticed several suspicious signs, called the business listed as the check's issuer and was told the check was fraudulent. The account it was meant for had been opened the day before, according to the department.
What police say happened
Officers were sent to Citizens Bank at 815 Grand Army Highway for a report of a woman attempting a check fraud scheme, the department said. Its dispatch log records the call coming in by phone at 3:16 p.m. that Wednesday.
Detectives in unmarked cars headed to the area while uniformed officers took up spots in nearby business parking lots, police said. The statement said schemes like this one "often involve multiple individuals working together, with potential co-conspirators waiting in vehicles some distance from the targeted business."
Watching from a nearby lot, detectives saw the woman walk through the Super Stop & Shop parking lot and get into a gray 2002 Volvo, according to the statement. Detectives and patrol officers then moved their vehicles around the Volvo so it could not leave.
The check carried the business's name as the issuer and was made out to the woman, police said. The statement did not name the business or say which of the people charged was the woman at the counter.
The charges and the court
The department's October dispatch log, posted on its website, lists Cairo, Chardonnette and Medeiros as arrested and booked on charges of conspiracy, uttering a false check and larceny by check over $1,200.
All three pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in Fall River District Court and were released, with pretrial hearings scheduled for December, Fall River Reporter reported, citing court records. Cairo, Chardonnette and Medeiros are each presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
An earlier arrest at the same address
It was the second fraud arrest at that address in about six weeks. The department's September log shows a 911 call for fraud there at 4:02 p.m. on Sept. 18 that ended with a Rhode Island resident in custody on charges of larceny by check over $1,200, conspiracy, uttering a false check, failing to stop for police and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. The department's statement on the October case does not mention the September arrest.
What happens next
The three people arrested are due back in Fall River District Court for pretrial hearings in December, Fall River Reporter reported, citing court records. Police have not released a name or a court date for the fourth person, who was summonsed rather than arrested.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The time and place of the call, the three names and ages and the booking charges come from the Somerset Police Department's October dispatch log, which we read in full. The account of the attempted deposit, the surveillance, the arrests, the three names and towns, the charges and the quoted line come from the department's Facebook statement. The September arrest at the same address comes from the department's September log. The arraignment and plea details come from Fall River Reporter, citing court records. The statement and the log list home addresses; we print only towns. Not heard yet: Somerset police, asked about the charges filed in court, the court dates and the fourth person; answers will be added.
Corrections
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Sources (4)
- Somerset Police Department, Facebook post on the Oct. 28 arrestsThe call to Citizens Bank at 815 Grand Army Highway, the surveillance and the Volvo, the attempted $35,000 deposit into an account opened a day earlier, the teller's call to the business, the check made out to the woman, three people arrested and a fourth summonsed, the three charges, the three names, ages and towns, and the quoted line. Posted Nov. 7, 2026. Read Nov. 8, 2026.
- Somerset Police Department, dispatch log, Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, 2026 (PDF)The 3:16 p.m. Oct. 28 fraud call at 815 Grand Army Highway, the three arrests, ages and booking charges. Printed Nov. 2, 2026. Read Nov. 7, 2026.
- Somerset Police Department, dispatch log, Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, 2026 (PDF)The 4:02 p.m. Sept. 18 fraud call and arrest at 815 Grand Army Highway. Read Nov. 7, 2026.
- Fall River Reporter, "Fall River and Swansea residents busted in alleged Somerset fraud scheme"The arraignments, not guilty pleas, release and December pretrial hearings, citing court records. Posted Nov. 7, 2026. Read Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, 2026.