WESTPORT — A Bridgeport man is charged with stealing checks from a local conservatorship and depositing them into a bank account for his personal use.

Eldrege Christmas, 37, was charged this week with first-degree larceny, first-degree identity theft, first-degree forgery, illegal use of a payment card and receipt of money/goods/services by illegal use of a payment card.

A complaint was filed with police last June 9 by a man who said fraudulent checks were written against a bank account that he oversees as a conservator. The man told police he had not written any of the checks and did not know the name of the payee.

A police investigator determined the stolen checks were deposited into a bank account and funds then were withdrawn via a debit card, according to the report. The card also was used to make online purchases, police said.

Video surveillance of ATM withdrawals made by an individual using the debit card led to identification of Christmas as a suspect, according to the report.

Additional evidence collected after the execution of a search warrant linked Christmas to the crimes, police said, and a warrant for his arrest was issued.

Christmas was taken into custody April 2 by Bridgeport police and turned over to police in Westport, where he was formally charged.

He was released after posting $50,000 bond, and is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges April 13 at state Superior Court in Stamford.