Police in Rock Hill, York Co. see rash of counterfeit bills, including ‘movie money’

Police in Rock Hill have seen a rash of counterfeit money cases in recent weeks, including some where fake “movie money” has been passed as real currency.

One person, arrested by both Rock Hill city and York County law enforcement officers, used phony $100 bills in two incidents within five minutes of each other, police said.

Cases have been reported at restaurants and stores, said Detective Keith Dugan of the Rock Hill Police Department.

“We have seen a sharp uptick in counterfeit bills,” said Dugan, who investigates many of the department’s financial crimes. “Some of these bills, such as the movie money that says ‘For Motion Picture Use Only’ is clearly not real.”

Dugan urged store employees to check bills for legitimacy, and to call police if money that is not real is found.

One person was arrested Sunday night by Rock Hill officers and accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $100 bill for food at a McDonald’s fast food drive-through, according to police.

A clerk at the restaurant refused to accept the money and alerted police who later stopped the car involved, police said.

Inside the vehicle, police found seven counterfeit bills, including six with the same serial number, reports show.

Rock Hill police called York County Sheriff’s office deputies, after finding out that the same person allegedly passed a phony $100 bill for a drink at the Starbucks inside a Harris-Teeter grocery store on Celanese Road outside the city limits. That happened five minutes before the McDonald’s incident, a sheriff’s report states.

Tyrik Williams Richardson, 24, has been charged with forgery and uttering by both Rock Hill police and York County deputies in connection with the restaurant and grocery store incidents, according to police and jail records.

Another incident report from Friday shows that a woman claimed that a counterfeit $100 bill she tried to use came from lottery winnings.

Two other reports show that a man tried to use a counterfeit $100 bill to buy drinks at a convenience store, and a different man used a fake $20 bill to buy drinks from a Cherry Road store.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Police in Rock Hill, York Co. see rash of counterfeit bills, including ‘movie money’."