Crime & Safety

Menard's Employee Catches Man Paying With Funny Money

A local cashier called Tinley Park police this past week after a customer handed her a fake bill.

An employee at Menard's called the cops this past week after she realized a $100 bill that a customer handed her was counterfeit.

The bill was used at the store, 6851 159th St., , around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the police report. The cashier said she rang up around $30 worth of merchandise for a man, who then handed her a suspicious $100 bill as payment.

"I noticed that the texture of the bill was not consistent with most currency; the color was much darker than usual, when held to the light I could not see the security strip inside the currency, and also the employee used a counterfeit marker which showed the bill was (fake)," an officer wrote, in the report.

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Employees said they'd seen the suspect in the store several times in the past, according to the report.

The cashier told police that the man became nervous when she asked for help to determine if the money was funny.

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"(She) told me the suspect stated, 'What? If it's bad, I can give you another one,'" the report said.

The cashier then asked another employee to bring the bill to the back room, the report said, and the suspect followed and "nervously made a call on his cell phone."

The suspect then left the store in a silver Pontiac Grand Am that was being driven by someone else. Store employees gave the license plate number to . They also contacted the U.S. Secret Service, which is investigating the matter.

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