TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says a man suspected of impersonating a sheriff's deputy while writing bad checks across Kansas has tried the ruse in Colorado.

Investigators say 45-year-old Robert Helms of Pittsburg was spotted Wednesday at a grocery store in Walsh, Colo., about 18 miles from the Kansas border. He reportedly flashed a fake badge and credentials claiming to be a sheriff's deputy from Adams County, Kan. There is no Adams County in Kansas.

The KBI says Helms has written bad checks at convenience stores and other businesses across Kansas, usually in smaller towns. The KBI said in February that Helms had pulled the scam in 24 cities.

He is a white man, 5-feet-7, weighing 190 pounds, with blue eyes and short gray hair. He sometimes wears round glasses.