By Jim Clark 

A Somerville woman reportedly filed a complaint last week at police headquarters stating that a man to whom she had rented a room had allegedly stolen a check from her and subsequently defrauded her of $1,000.

The woman stated that while she was not at home on Saturday, December 31, 2011, someone broke into her locked bedroom and took a check from her checkbook. She then produced a copy of a cancelled check from her account that she obtained from her bank and officers noted that the check had been written out to “Carlos Rigoverto Pineda” in the amount of $1,000, police said.

Later in the day after filing the complaint, the alleged victim called police and informed them that the man in question, Carlos Pineda, 19, was at her home and that she wanted him to leave, according to police.

Police officers were dispatched to the woman’s home to investigate the case. The alleged victim reportedly explained to the officers that she wanted Pineda to leave due to the fact that he stole from her.  The officers explained to her that because she had agreed to sublet a room in her apartment to Pineda that they could not force him to leave, police said.

The woman then produced a copy of the report that she had filled out at the station earlier that afternoon along with a copy of the check and showed these documents to the officers, according to reports.

Pineda was asked by officers if he cashed the check and he reportedly made an incriminating statement, police said, and he was subsequently placed under arrest and charged with larceny over $250, utter false instrument, and forgery of a document.