VENTURA : 2 L. A. Men Held in Theft Attempt

Two Los Angeles men were arrested on suspicion of grand theft after one of them tried to purchase more than $37,000 worth of gold coins from a Ventura coin dealer using a counterfeit cashier’s check, police said Thursday.

Alnardo Burgos, 28, is being held in County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail, officials said. Burgos, who is also being sought by Los Angeles police for failing to answer charges of driving an uninsured car, is being held on an additional $1,500 bail for the misdemeanor offense, officials said.

Mark Sanders, 28, is being held in County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail, officials said. Detective Jeff Killion, chief investigator in the case, said Sanders arrived at Ventura Coins, a coin and stamp specialty store in the 3500 block of Telegraph Road on Tuesday with a cashier’s check.

Sanders had previously negotiated with the store’s owner, Dick Adams, and an unidentified caller, Killion said.

Adams told the caller that the transaction would be completed after the bank confirmed the authenticity of the check. After receiving the check, Adams noted the license plate number of the car Sanders was driving and called the bank to have the check verified.

Bank officials confirmed that the check was counterfeit and Adams notified police. Undercover officers arrested the two men when they returned to the store Wednesday.

In a separate incident, an unidentified caller telephoned an Oxnard coin dealer Wednesday and placed an order for about $48,000 in gold coins, police said. A messenger, who the caller said would pay for the coins with a cashier’s check, never showed up, the store owner said.