WESTPORT — A New Jersey man has been charged in a second case of “check washing” in less than a week — allegedly stealing a check from a local mailbox, changing the recipient’s name and amount on the check, and depositing it into his own bank account.

Donnell Jackson, 19, of Millville, N.J., was arrested June 8 on charges of second-degree forgery, third-degree larceny and fraudulent use of an automated teller machine.

Jackson’s arrest follows the June 2 arrest of Thalia Patrick, of Bronx, N.Y., in connection with another local check-washing incident. Police said Patrick in January stole a check for more than $28,000 from a U.S. Postal Service mailbox on Sylvan Road South at Post Road West, substituted her name for the original payee and deposited the check in her bank account.

Check washing, as described in a warning issued earlier this year by Westport police, occurs when details on an already-written check — usually the amount and payment recipient — are erased and replaced with fraudulent information.

Police said such incidents most commonly occur when “checks that have been put in mailboxes and are awaiting pickup by a postal employee are stolen.” The check details then are erased and new information entered, after which it is either cashed or deposited in a bank account controlled by the thief.

A police spokesman said the two incidents do not appear to be related.

Jackson’s arrest came after an investigation was launched into a Jan. 20 complaint filed with police by a local woman. She told police she put a letter with the check into a local Postal Service mailbox — the location was unspecified — and when the check later was cashed the recipient’s name and the amount were changed.

The cashed check was made out to “Donnell Jackson,” who the woman told police she did not know and to whom she had not issued the check.

The detective investigating the case determined the check had been deposited in an account held by Jackson at a Bank of America office in Iselin, N.J., according to the report. Based on additional evidence police said linked Jackson to the crime, a warrant for his arrest was issued.

Jackson was arrested June 8 by Westport detectives, and held on $100,000 bond. He was taken the next day to be arraigned on the charges at state Superior Court in Stamford.