4 Arrested In Fake $100 Bill Scheme In Greenfield, Greendale

GREENFIELD, WI — Police in Greenfield say they've arrested four people for passing counterfeit $100 bills at three businesses in Greenfield and a fourth in Greendale.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, four people from Michigan City, Indiana were all arrested and charged: Cionna Cooper, 18, Damon Morris, 20, Divonte Thompson, 27, and Halle Weaver, 18. Each person has been charged with one count of forgery. If convicted, they each face up to three years behind bars.

On Jan. 10, Greenfield police say officers were sent to Party City, 5058 S. 74th Street after a store manager called, saying two people came into the store and passed counterfeit $100 bills. When police inspected the fake currency, they could see that a $10 bill had been bleached, and a counterfeit $100 bill was printed over it.

According to the criminal complaint, the store manager told police they saw the two people leave the store and get into a beat-up Jeep Grand Cherokee in the parking lot. Police said as soon as they received the call from Party City, they started getting other complaints about counterfeit bills at the same strip mall.

Investigators say officers were sent to Joann Fabrics, 4950 S. 74th Street on a report that a clerk had taken two fake $100 bills in the last hour. When they arrived, they reported collecting two more bleached $100 bills.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were also went to Daddy Yo's Frozen Yogurt, 4874 S. 74th Street where the clerk told police that a woman entered the store and tried buying frozen yogurt with a fake $100 bill. Again, the bill was a fake, they determined.

Police also went to Hot Topic inside Southridge Mall, 5300 S. 76th Street in Greendale after a manager there said a person came into the store and tried to buy two items with a fake $100 bill. The clerk showed the bill to police, the criminal complaint stated.

Investigators say they used surveillance video footage as well as in-person descriptions from store clerks to piece together descriptions of the suspects they were looking for.

Police say they tracked down Thomson and Morris in a car parked outside. Southridge Mall. Officers reported finding Weaver and Cooper at Chick-Fil-A in the Southridge Mall Parking lot, the criminal complaint stated.

According to the criminal complaint, police located counterfeit currency in Cooper’s purse which matched the counterfeit currency passed by all four. Police said the fake money was separated from the real currency in Cooper’s purse, and hidden in a gum container.

When questioned by police, Thompson admitted to possessing counterfeit currency and attempting to use it. Weaver told police she received the counterfeit bills from someone in Chicago, and was tasked with the job of attempting to pass it. Police also said Morris passed the $100 bill at Joann Fabrics, saying he "did this for his kids," and that his only job was to pass the fake bills, the criminal complaint stated.