Sheridan woman allegedly passes counterfeit money in Hot Springs
A Sheridan woman was arrested on a felony warrant Sunday at a local motel stemming from allegations she passed a counterfeit $10 bill at a local McDonald’s earlier this month.
Jayme Jayanna Smith, 24, was taken into custody at the Quality Inn, 4319 Central Ave., shortly before 7 a.m. and charged with first-degree forgery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of theft of property under $1,000, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Smith, who lists no prior local criminal history, was later released on a $6,000 bond and is set to appear on Aug. 11 in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on May 6, Hot Springs police responded to McDonald’s, 4395 Central Ave., regarding a forgery and spoke to an employee who stated she had been working the drive-thru window when a white female came through in a white 2013 Dodge Avenger.
The woman ordered $16.15 worth of food and when she pulled up to the first window, she gave the employee a $10 bill and some $1 bills to pay for the food.
The employee noted the $10 bill had an
“odd color to it” so she used the counterfeit detection pen to check it which reportedly showed it to be counterfeit. As the employee called for her manager, the woman drove to the next window, grabbed her food and drove off before they could stop her.
The employee was able to provide the first name of the suspect, Jayme, due to her ordering on the online mobile app.
Detective Matthew Cheatham contacted the registered owner of the Dodge via phone and she advised it was her daughter, identified as Smith, using the vehicle. She called her daughter and then called Cheatham back asking if she could just pay for the money loss.
Cheatham reviewed the security video from McDonald’s and noted the woman had what appeared to be a tattoo on her left forearm. Comparing photos of Smith with the video, he noted the same tattoo in the same location and that the woman in the video had the same build as Smith. A warrant for Smith’s arrest was issued on May 10.
A Malvern man, Byrum Ezekiel Laster, 23, was arrested May 8 on the same charge also involving an allegedly counterfeit $10 bill after trying to pass it at a local gas station on April 10, but the clerk realized it in time and seized it.
The affidavit for Laster noted that multiple other $10 bills, all with the same serial number as the one Laster allegedly tried to pass, had been seized previously at different other locations around Hot Springs.