`Teacher' To Be Arraigned On Charges Related To Theft

A man being investigated by the Secret Service for allegedly counterfeiting teaching credentials will be arraigned tomorrow on first-degree possession of stolen property and second-degree theft charges.

King County prosecutors yesterday charged Jack Gregory Ware, 24, claiming he possessed a Cadillac stolen from a Georgia car-rental agency and stole three gold coins, valued at more than $1,000, from a roommate.

Patrick Sullivan, assistant special agent in charge of the Secret Service here, said Ware may yet be charged in federal court with counterfeiting motor- vehicle records and his teaching credentials, which bear a Georgia state seal.

Ware briefly taught at Sumner Junior High School after presenting officials there with educational transcripts that authorities believe are phony.

Yesterday, Deputy Prosecutor John Belatti wrote in charging papers that Ware, also known as J. Vanderbilt, was caught Aug. 24, trying to get a print shop on Pacific Highway South to produce 10 copies of a Georgia motor-vehicle registration form.

A shop employee became suspicious and called Tukwila police, who responded and detained Ware. Keys Ware was carrying allegedly fit the lock to a white Cadillac he rented in November but reported stolen.

Police said Ware originally claimed he was having the forms made for his father, who lived in Georgia and had an antique car he wanted to hide from his wife.

Later, Ware told police he sought to fake the registration to make it look as if he owned the car, Belatti said.

Sometime later, Ware stole the three gold coins worth $1,163 from a former roommate at a Renton apartment, Belatti said. He had sold the same coins to the roommate a month before.

Belatti said the roommate found a note from Ware apologizing for the theft and saying he'd try to make restitution one day.

During the investigation, authorities discovered Ware may have falsified his educational credentials that showed he had a master's degree from Georgia State University.

He taught two days before disappearing.

Ware was captured Saturday when a roommate in Magnolia called police after seeing Ware's picture on the front page of The Times with an article stating he was a fugitive. Ware is being held in King County Jail pending trial.