A Delaware man is in custody after using counterfeit bills to purchase items from numerous stores yesterday (Wednesday, October 29, 2014) in Hometown (Schuylkill County).
Late yesterday afternoon, Rush Township Police were dispatched to HT Commons (Plaza Drive) in Hometown where an unidentified African American male used counterfeit twenty-dollar bills to purchase items at Sally Beauty Supply, Radio Shack, The Shoe Dept. and other stores. The male left prior to police arrival.
Rush Township Police Sergeant Duane Frederick said the man then went to a department store at Laurel Mall in Hazle Township (Luzerne County) and attempted to return items that were recently purchased in Rush Township.
Frederick added that State Police in Hazleton were able to apprehend the male – later identified as Wayne J. Sanders Jr., 30, of Wilmington, Delaware.
Sanders was released to Rush Township Department, where he was arraigned on numerous charges and lodged in the Schuylkill County Prison on $25,000 straight cash bail.
An employee of one of the affected stores in Hometown told TamaquaArea.com today that the man was dressed nice, acted polite and didn’t appear threatening. The employee added that the bills had a textured feel and looked very real.
Police added that Sanders had car keys on him belonging to a 2005 silver Mercury Mountaineer that was left in the Laurel Mall parking lot packed with merchandise from department stores. A search warrant, executed today (Thursday, October 30, 2014), resulted in the discovery of over 150 items inside the Mercury. Receipt dates go back as far as October 15 and stretch from at least 18 jurisdictions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.
“Uncut sheets of counterfeit money were found inside the vehicle that matched the serial numbers Sanders used to make purchases in Rush Township,” said Frederick, who added that denominations of five, ten, and twenty were used to make the purchases.
Rush Township Police Department is working with the Secret Service.
Click HERE for a U.S. Secret Service website link on how to detect counterfeit money.