Couple cashed $13,000 in bad checks, police say

SALEM, Ore. – A couple from Oregon wanted in a multi-state check fraud spree was detained in Alabama, then set free Tuesday, authorities said.

Bobbi Ann Finley, also known as Bobbi Ann House, has been accused, along with her husband, of writing more than $13,000 in bad checks across the country since March 11, according to Sgt. Chris Baldridge with the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies also dubbed Bobbi House the "Military Mistress" because they said she had married 15 U.S. service members, including her current husband.

The two have been on the run, but on Tuesday, officers pulled them over in Mobile County, Ala. after their Cadillac Escalade came up as stolen. The couple was living in the vehicle, along with their dog, investigators said.

The vehicle was seized and the Oregon couple was detained in Alabama—then released —before investigators realized they were wanted fugitives.

House, 39, and her husband, 27-year-old Zackerie House, opened a Wells Fargo bank account and allegedly used it to write bad checks. Investigators said on March 14 the couple purchased a 2005 Cadillac Escalade from Universal Auto Sales in Salem using a fraudulent check for a $1,500 down payment.

Bobbi and Zackerie House wrote bad checks for more purchases along the Oregon coast, Baldridge said. From there, they moved through Colorado, where they wrote more bad checks. Investigators said the couple's most recent fraudulent purchase was in Checotah, Oklahoma.

From March 11 to March 30, the couple was accused of writing $13,500 in bad checks at stores such as Cabela's, Bi-Mart and Safeway.

The Marion County Criminal Investigations Unit and the Oregon Department of Justice have been leading the investigation.

"The items the Houses are purchasing appear to be items used for camping or surviving in rural or remote areas," Baldridge said in a news release.