After being arrested in Vermont for failing to appear at his Grafton Superior Court arraignment

After being arrested in Vermont for failing to appear at his Grafton Superior Court arraignment, a transient faces indictments for cashing forged checks in the name of a local contractor and stealing more than $20,000 from four community bank branches. Paul Bartel, 54, whose most recent listed address is in Taunton, Mass., is charged with two Class B felony counts of forgery and two Class A felony counts of theft by deception. Prosecutors said Bartel presented a $5,668.22 check, payable to himself, at the Franconia branch of Woodsville Savings Bank while implying that the check was executed by the Woodsville-based H.P. Cummings Construction Co. when it was not. The same day, Bartel presented the Woodsville branch of the bank with the same type of check, this one for $5,058.52. The new charges follow previous felony charges for incidents that occurred in Littleton. Bartel allegedly presented a check payable to himself and purporting to have been issued by H.P Cummings for $5,328.08 and presented it at the Meadow Street branch of Woodsville Savings Bank. On the same day, he employed the same scheme at the Cottage Street, Littleton branch of the Woodsville bank with another forged H.P. Cummings check for $6,468.39.

On March 8, Bartel was found and arrested in

Brattleboro, Vt.