A Fort Wayne man is accused of passing bad checks at two car dealerships within a three-week span this summer.

The man apparently thought the fact the dealerships got the vehicles he “bought” back would keep him out of trouble.

On Monday, Allen County prosecutors formally charged William A. Johnson, 52, of New Haven with two felony counts of check deception.

Johnson is accused of first using a bad check made out for $11,720 to buy a Chrysler Town & Country van from Fort Wayne Nissan on June 25.

He’s accused of then going to Mercedes Benz of Fort Wayne on July 16, where he picked out a 2007 Mercedes Benz ML 350 and wrote a $20,480 check that came back bad, as well.

Johnson declined to speak to Fort Wayne police in person about the checks, according to Allen Superior Court documents, but told a detective over the phone he didn’t think he was in trouble because the dealerships got the cars back.