Lakeside woman arrested for forgery

A Lakeside woman is back in jail after a third arrest on suspicion of spending someone else’s money.

Trisha Michelle Lincoln, 26, faced felony charges of deceptive practices and forgery before being arrested this week on similar accusations.

Lincoln was charged in two separate cases in January. One alleges that she wrote 14 checks on a closed account that belonged to someone who had died. Video surveillance from one of the businesses showed some of the transactions from fall 2014, according to court documents.

As that case reached the Flathead County District Court, another was right behind. A woman called the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in January to report a credit card being used by someone else in her name. 

Investigators identified Lincoln from video footage during one of the transactions, according to court documents. When they met Lincoln to ask questions, she was wearing the shoes she had allegedly purchased with the stolen credit card, according to court documents.

During that interview, Lincoln allegedly admitted using stolen checks and a credit card.

Lincoln pleaded not guilty to the first charge on Jan. 29 and the second on Feb. 12. She received a conditional release on both occasions. 

On March 17, prosecutors filed to revoke the release after an investigation found more alleged check forgeries. In some instances, Lincoln allegedly wrote things such as “B-day gift/Trisha” in the memo line in an effort to claim ownership of the goods.

Investigators used video footage again to match Lincoln to the transactions and an arrest warrant was issued.

Lincoln is being held in the Flathead County Detention Center on $25,000 bail. She faces up to 30 years in prison and a $100,000 penalty for the first two cases. Charges are pending on the latest case.

Lincoln has a scheduled court hearing on June 17 but is expected to have an initial court appearance on the third case within days.