LIVERMORE – He introduced himself as Bruce Grant and said he was a U.S. Marine returning from duty in Iraq. Hands were shaken. Small talk was exchanged. The all-American man produced a checkbook and bought a car from a local dealership. By all appearances, it was just another serviceman resuming his life in the States.

Police now say Bruce Grant is really 23-year-old Luther Hathcoat from Sulfur Springs, Texas. He is not a Marine, they say, but a cattle thief, wanted for stealing livestock back in his home state.

What’s more, an investigator from the Androscoggin County sheriff’s office said the check Hathcoat used to pay for his car was not even real. The man made his own checks, then used the clever forgeries to pay for goods across Maine, he said.

“He’s been writing these things from Biddeford to Bangor,” said sheriff’s Detective Bill Gagne.

Once Gagne learned about the man, he began searching for him. Hathcoat was found to be living in Jay, but he was nowhere to be found. Police searched Hathcoat’s apartment and found evidence of ongoing fraud, Gagne said.

What followed was a hunt for Hathcoat that stretched from the East Coat to the Great Plains.

“I ended up doing more research on this guy,” Gagne said.

The detective found evidence that Hathcoat passed a bad check in Arizona, where he bought another car. That check wasn’t forged, Gagne said – there was just no money in the bank to cover it.

Police in Arizona were unable to catch up with Hathcoat. But in early August, he was spotted by police in Wyoming and arrested on Gagne’s warrant from Maine. The warrant charges forgery. Hathcoat has remained in custody in that state since he was picked up.

“We’re waiting for him to waive extradition,” Gagne said. “We’re waiting for him to come back to Maine.”

Throughout his travels, Hathcoat continued to use the name Bruce Grant and bandied about the story about his service in Iraq. He told people he dealt with that he was now a recruiter for the Marines, just an honest serviceman trying to live his life, Gagne said.

“It’s bogus,” Gagne said. “He’s not even a soldier.”

The detective said Hathcoat probably passed around $20,000 worth of bad checks in Maine. Some recipients of the bogus checks may not even realize yet that they have been swindled.

The checks appear to be written on a Bank of America account. Gagne advised anyone who may have accepted a check from Hathcoat – or a man calling himself Bruce Grant – to call their local police department or Gagne at 784-7361, extension 214.