La Grande woman arrested on identity theft and forgery charges at local copy business

By Garrett Christensen on Friday, February 20th, 2026 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News

LA GRANDE – Following investigations by both the La Grande Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office, 31-year-old Alona Marie Berecz of La Grande was arrested by the La Grande Police Department on theft, identity theft, and forgery charges on Saturday February 14, 2026.

According to the La Grande Police Department, officers were initially dispatched to a theft call at 1904 Adams Avenue, Copies Plus CP Espresso, at approximately 9:59 a.m. on Friday, February 13. During the investigation, multiple documents were found in Berecz’s property that linked her to various crimes over the past several months. The LGPD confirmed that Berecz is both a former employee of Copies Plus, and that she was alleged to have copied and stolen the IDs of several coworkers.

As a result of the investigation, officers had probable cause for charges of Forgery I (10x) Identity Theft (7x), Theft I, Theft II (3x) and Theft III. On February 14, Berecz was subsequently arrested for the listed charges by the LGPD. Information was further shared with the Union County Sheriff’s Office, who had also developed similar charges for Berecz at the time.

According to a recent LGPD press log, charges from the UCSO for Berecz included Computer Crime/Fraud-Felony (2x) Forgery II (2x) Identity Theft/Fraud-Counterfeit, and Theft II. Berecz was additionally arrested by the UCSO on three failure to appear warrants out of Clackamas County for prior charges, including:

Failure to Appear, Original Charges of Attempt to Elude and Reckless Driving
Failure to Appear, Original Charges of Theft II
Failure to Appear, Original Charges of Theft II.

According to Oregon Judicial Department Records, a case was filed with the Union County Circuit Court on February 13. Charges listed for the case as of the time of writing (all of which are dated February 6) include Computer Crime Felony Class C (2x) Identity Theft Felony Class C (2x) Forgery in the Second-Degree Misdemeanor Class A (2x) and Possession of Forged Instrument in the Second-Degree Misdemeanor Class A (2x).

Bail was listed as $10,000 dollars and a plea hearing is scheduled for 01:15 p.m. on March 13, 2026. Berecz was still listed in the Union County Jail roster as of February 19.