WESTPORT — A Bridgeport man is accused of stealing a check from the mail, forging its value by adding more than $17,000 to the original amount and depositing it into his bank account.

Leighton Reynolds, 28, was charged last week with second-degree forgery, second-degree identity theft, criminal attempt to commit second-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit second-degree identity theft.

Police launched an investigation after receiving a complaint on April 17, 2022, that a check — originally written for the amount of $249.65 — apparently was stolen after being placed in the mail.

The check was subsequently altered, with the amount changed to $17,262.37, and deposited into an unrecognized bank account, according to the report.

Investigators used search warrants, video surveillance footage of an ATM and information shared with other law-enforcement agencies to identify Leighton Reynolds as owner of the bank account where the check was deposited, police said.

After a warrant for Reynolds’s arrested was issued, he was taken into custody Jan. 16 by Fairfield police and turned over to Westport police.

Reynolds was released after posting $35,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 6 at state Superior Court in Stamford.