Petaluma Man Arrested For Allegedly Writing Bad Checks, Defrauding Businesses

SONOMA COUNTY, CA -- A Petaluma man with at least one prior felony conviction for writing bad checks was arrested Friday on suspicion of defrauding multiple people and businesses in the city.

Police say that on May 12 Terry Bumper was asked to come to Petaluma Police Department for an interview regarding his alleged role in conning multiple individuals and businesses in Petaluma. Bumper allegedly claimed to be an employee of Amazon and offered merchandise at reduced prices, police say.

Bumper also allegedly opened a checking account at Redwood Credit Union with limited funds and began to write checks from the account to cover personal expenses and attempt to reimburse previous victims. In all, Bumper is said to have written in excess of $23,000 in checks on the closed account, police say.

Bumper was arrested and transported to Sonoma County Jail. Police say he had six previous investigations for similar offenses in Petaluma as well as several others in other cities in Sonoma County.

Anybody who has done business with Bumper in the previous three months is asked to contact Petaluma Police Detective John Silva at (707) 778-4532.

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