Man charged with forgery, illegally possessing gun after apartment raid

Boone County prosecutors filed two cases against a Columbia man after police raided his apartment.

James F. Webb, 23, was charged with four counts of forgery along with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. Columbia police served a search warrant at Webb’s apartment at Cooper Beech Townhomes, on Grindstone Parkway.

A probable cause statement claims the investigation began on December 19 with four “forged” checks deposited into two banks on Nifong Boulevard. The checks were from two people in Chicago, made out to another man for “temp services” totaling $4,155.

Police worked with a “cooperating citizen” who claimed Webb was duplicating checks in his apartment. The person also showed pictures of Webb holding a shotgun with camouflage pattern.

CPD served a search warrant last Thursday on Webb’s Cooper Beech unit, where they claim to have found printers, check stock and blank checks, along with two shotguns in the kitchen pantry. Webb told police, the statement said, that the shotguns belonged to his roommate, and he took pictures with them “because it was cool.”

Police wrote that Webb also claimed the recipient of the money in the forged checks was a “willing participant” in the check fraud.

Webb was convicted of a felony in Illinois. He faces another unlawful possession of a weapon charge from a May incident on the north side of town.