A sharp-eyed teller at a Washington bank helped catch a band of thieves that had been trying to pass stolen checks around town Monday.

A teller at the downtown branch of Farmers and Merchants Bank was suspicious about the signature on a check from a local merchant, bank vice president Johnny Newberry said, and she checked the signature against bank records. When the signatures did not match, she informed Newberry, and he called 911.

Washington Police Lt. Benny Johnson investigated, and found that the suspect, Cedric Bernard Zackary, 39, of Atlanta, had entered the bank with two other black males and that all three had presented checks to different tellers. All three checks were found to be stolen from Slaton Enterprises.

Two of the checks had already been cashed and the men had already left the bank. Police conducted a search of the area but did not find them. Zackary was taken into custody and charged with forgery in the first degree.

The investigation revealed that the checks had been stolen from the office of Slaton Sales on East Robert Toombs Avenue during the previous week, but owner Clifford Slaton was not aware of the theft until the bank notified him that someone was attempting to cash a forged check.

After interviewing Zackary and investigating further, Washington Police investigators arrested four other men and one woman Tuesday.

At press time, warrants were being issued and charges were being filed on the five. Police warned the public that several stolen checks were still unaccounted for.