A well-known Bristol business owner, volunteer and recent candidate for Bristol Town Council was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly passing fraudulent checks. Ethan Tucker, 42, is accused of selling or keeping artists’ work at his Mint Gallery at 433 Hope St. Six artists filed complaints against Mr. Tucker, who is also treasuer of the Bristol Democratic Town Committee.

Bristol Police began investigating Mr. Tucker and fraudulent checks about a month ago. During the course of the investigation, they found numerous artists with complaints against Mr. Tucker and the gallery.

Each of the six artists who were willing to pursue criminal charges told police they had conducted business transactions with Mr. Tucker on one or more occasions within the last year. According to police, each of the artists indicated that they produced one-of-a-kind pieces of art and entered an understanding with Mr. Tucker that the Mint Gallery would display and list for sale their work for an agreed upon price.

Each of the six artists interviewed by Bristol Police stated that they were either, never compensated for pieces of their art or never provided their art back upon requesting that it be returned. Some of these artists were compensated with fraudulent checks provided to them by Mr. Tucker, which were returned for insufficient funds. 

Bristol Police applied for and were granted a court authorized search warrant for the Mint Gallery and were also granted an arrest warrant for Mr. Tucker for one felony and two misdemeanor counts of passing fraudulent checks. 

On Dec. 20, they executed the search warrant at the gallery, and Mr. Tucker was taken into custody and transported to police headquarters for processing. Mr. Tucker appeared before a bail commissioner and was released. He was ordered to appear in District Court on Feb. 21 for arraignment.

Police say the investigation is ongoing and further charges may result.

Mr. Tucker ran for Bristol Town Council last month and finished ninth out of 10 candidates. He has served on the Bristol Recycling Committee and as chairman of the defunct Bristol Economic Development Commission.