Bank of America associate James Tomer has seen his fair share of fraudulent checks come through his line. Little did he realize one of them would lead to the arrest of a high-profile felon.

To Tomer, it was just another day at work.

On May 14, a female customer entered the Sumner branch at the corner of Alder and Main Street. She approached Tomer wanting to cash a $4,000 check.

When asked for two pieces of identification, the woman presented a debit card with the name matching that of the check and a Kansas driver’s license.

Tomer said something didn’t seem right when he looked at the customer’s ID. The picture of the state printed on the license was oddly shaped.

“I was never big into geography or anything like that,” Tomer said. “But I’m pretty sure that’s not what Kansas looks like.”

Bank of America keeps a book containing photo references for each state’s drivers license.

When Tomer checked the ID with the book, the first page he opened to was Arkansas. The license was a perfect match to the customer’s ID.

“It instantly clicked,” Tomer said. “This is a fake ID.”

He immediately notified Nicki Wininger who phoned the police while Tomer kept the woman distracted. Within 10 minutes, police officers came through both entrances of the bank and apprehended the woman.

It was reported that the woman has been involved with a group that travels around the western United States creating forged identification and cashing fraudulent checks in local banks. She was suspected of having already stolen about $100,000 in this manner.

“It’s cool to know my people are looking out for the bank,” Wininger said.

She explained that the event was a huge deal and police officers agreed they likely would not have made the same connection with the license as Tomer.

After only working with Tomer for a year, Wininger said she is happy to have him on the team.

Tomer said he wasn’t nervous as he kept the woman’s attention while waiting for officers to arrive. Also, he doesn’t care much for the publicity he has received.

He has worked with Bank of America for four years, two at a branch in Federal Way and one in Kent before coming to Sumner in July 2008.

He said that at Federal Way he would see at least one fake check or identification every other month.

“I was just doing my job for my customers and it turned out to be this big thing,” he said.

Bank of America takes precautions to properly train all its employees in handling similar situations. Tellers are given a course in recognizing fraudulent IDs and checks which is being constantly updated.

Tomer was presented the Citizen Award for Excellence by Sumner Police Chief John Galle on June 15 during a meeting of the Sumner City Council.