3 Arrested For Counterfeit $100 Bills In Bucks Co.

NORTHAMPTON, PA — Three Philadelphia men have been arrested in Bucks County on charges they tried to pass counterfeit $100 bills. The arrests, in Northampton Township, come after months of reports of similar crimes in the area.

According to Northampton Police, the men were arrested Thursday after passing $400 in fake bills at businesses in Crossroads Plaza shopping center, then trying to use one at another store there.

An employee at the Richboro True Value hardware store called police saying that a man tried to use a fake $100 bill at the counter. The employee told officers that the man left the store and was with two others in a gold sedan parked near the Acme supermarket.

Officers arrived and approached the car. According to police, when the driver opened the door, the smell of marijuana was obvious. Inside the car, officers found an envelope with several fake $100 bills in it, according to police.

Kyair LaShawn Garnett, 19, Ryquille Hassan Hill, 22, and Rakiem Jamar King, 21, were arrested on charges including forgery and theft by deception.

They were arraigned and released on $50,000 unsecured bail, police said.

Northampton Police said they are investigating whether the men were involved in any other counterfeit money cases reported in the area.

In January and February, police reported men passing, or attempting to pass, fake $100 bills in Warminster, Newtown, Lower Makefield and Morrisville.

According to surveillance video, the man who went into the hardware store handed the clerk a $100 bill, which the clerk checked with a detection pen and considered authentic. Police say the man then asked for the bill back, picked up another item to buy and switched the real bill for a fake one.

Police did not say which man they believe was in the True Value, but that Hill was one of two men who passed fake bills in the Acme. A fourth man, who was also in Acme, ran away, they said.

The counterfeit bills recovered from Acme matched the serial numbers of some of the bills found in the car, according to police.