Inver Grove Heights Man Accused of Passing Phony $100 Bill

An Inver Grove Heights man has been charged with passing a counterfeit $100 bill at a gas station in Mendota Heights last weekend.

Robert Jorge, 30, is being held in the Dakota County Jail on a $30,000 bond. He is also wanted in Hennepin County on a first-degree aggravated robbery charge.

The felony charge in Dakota County carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Mendota Heights police on Saturday responded to a report at a BP gas station of a man attempting to pass a counterfeit $100 bill. Police were told that the suspect had fled in a red Monte Carlo, and got a description of him.

When police located and stopped the car, they found Jorge – who matched the suspect’s description – lying on the back seat, and arrested him, the complaint says.

According to the complaint, the store clerk told police that the suspect walked into the store and attempted to buy a pack of cigarettes and a soda with a $100 bill. The clerk suspected that the bill was phony and showed it to his manager, who called 911.

The complaint says Jorge then asked if something was wrong, told the employees that he’d received the $100 bill from a friend and gave them $8 for the cigarettes and soda. He was 30 cents short and told the clerk that he would go to his car to get change; he left without asking for the $100 bill, according to the complaint.

The store clerk told police that he followed Jorge outside and saw him running through the parking lot to a parked car. Jorge jumped into the car, and it drove away, the complaint says.

The complaint says that after he was arrested, Jorge told police that he didn’t know the $100 bill was counterfeit, and that he had shorted the store 30 cents. He said that when he went to the car to get change, the driver took off before he could return to the store and pay what he owed, the complaint says.

Jorge’s criminal record shows previous convictions for aggravated second-degree robbery, aggravated first-degree robbery and theft, along with other crimes. He is scheduled to appear at an omnibus hearing May 23 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.