OCEAN CITY, MD - OC Bikefest organizer Chase Micheal has turned himself in to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida on numerous charges of passing worthless checks, according to the Bay County Sheriff and court documents.
WBOC has obtained the warrant application filed by the Sheriff’s Office which alleges Micheal issued 22 worthless checks from October 24th, 2022 through May 31st, 2023.
Micheal was involved with the production of the Thunder Beach motorcycle rally in Panama City, Florida at the time the checks were issued, according to police. Authorities say he was responsible for booking entertainment, securing vendor contracts, and coordinating with Panama City Beach officials for the bike event.
According to the filed complaint, multiple individuals loaned Micheal money that he used to pay for various facets of the Thunder Beach Rally. Micheal allegedly entered agreements with these individuals and was responsible for issuing checks as repayment of those loans. Some of those checks, the charging document alleges, were returned as not having sufficient funds in the paying account.
One individual reportedly told Bay County police he had received a loan repayment check from Micheal totaling $50,000 for a loan given months earlier. Police say the account the check was drawing from had less than $5,000 when the check was issued.
“At no time during the month of May 2023 did the account’s balance exceed $9,000,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office reads, “Clearly indicating that the defendant knowingly issued the check to the victim without having the funds in the account to cover it.
Authorities say they found 21 other checks Micheal issued that the account did not have sufficient funds to cover, totaling over $530,000.
Some of the individuals who loaned Micheal money were outside of Bay County, Florida, the charging documents also claim.
Bay County Sheriff Tom Ford told WBOC that some of the loans Micheal received went towards the Ocean City event as well as the Thunder Beach event. The Sheriff could not confirm specifically where the individuals who loaned Micheal were located, but said they were from various states.
Micheal reportedly turned himself in to Bay County police on September 22nd. His first arraignment is scheduled for October 2nd.