19-year-old allegedly caught with fake $100 bills

Another teen arrested in connection with same charges

EL DORADO —Two people have been arrested in connection with counterfeit bills being circulated in El Dorado, according to the El Dorado Police Department.

The passing of counterfeit bills occurred in El Dorado last week, including multiple reports of fake currency ranging in denominations from $5 to $100 appearing at local businesses.

Johnathon M. Hall, 19, of El Dorado, was arrested Friday for allegedly using two counterfeit $100 bills to purchase an iPhone from an independent seller earlier that day, according to a police report.

Thursday, a woman contacted a “JQ Hall” on Facebook, who was interested in purchasing a black iPhone 5 from her, according to police. They met at Chick-A-Dilly around 6:30 p.m. where Hall paid for the iPhone with two $100 bills. He left the restaurant quickly as she felt the bills and on closer inspection, she read on the top right corner: “For Motion Picture Use Only.”

Last week police reported having 10 counterfeit $100 bills with the same words on them.

“The biggest thing is for businesses not to be in a hurry. It’s different for each case, but we caution people to verify the security features on each bill before accepting it,” said Capt. Kevin Holt, information officer for the El Dorado Police Department.

On Friday, Hall was arrested at El Dorado High School, where he reportedly told police he purchased five counterfeit $100 bills on eBay for $3 plus tax. According to the report, the other three bills were in his wallet, which police confiscated.

Hall was charged with first-degree forgery and he made his first court appearance Monday. He was later released on his own recognizance and bound to circuit court for further proceedings.

This wasn’t the only incident last week when counterfeit bills were used.

Brooklyn N. Waller, 18, of El Dorado, was arrested Monday after allegedly swapping a counterfeit $100 bill for five $20 bills in the register at La Bella’s on Friday, according to police. She is facing first-degree forgery charges and is scheduled for her first court appearance on Wednesday.

La Bella’s management declined to comment on the incident.

Thursday at Betty’s Old Fashion a customer purchased food and when the

employee handed change back, one of the $5 bills was fake. The employees quickly exchanged the counterfeit bill for the correct change.

“We don’t know how we got a hold of it,” said Owner Betty Schaub. “It was so old, you couldn’t tell it was fake.”

A Walmart employee told police on Wednesday that she recently saw counterfeit bills go through the register — one $100 bill and two $20 bills.

Some businesses like the Olde Towne Store have gone on the defense with the recent surge in local counterfeit reports. Last week the managers placed a sign warning its employees to check larger currency, especially $20 and $100 bills for authenticity.

“Recently our bank told us about a lot of businesses on the square coming across counterfeit $20s, and we wanted to make sure nothing like that happened here,” Manager Missy Passmore said.

Anyone with information regarding counterfeit money can contact the El Dorado Police Department at 870-8814800.