Three men and a woman from Brooklyn, NY used phony $100 bills to pay for goods in various stores in Darien and Stamford on Thursday, up until they were arrested just after 6 p.m., police said.
gave this account of the incident:
At about 5:50 p.m., employees from Leary's Liquor Cabinet, 186 Heights Rd., called police to tell them that a man had tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at the store.
When a clerk rejected the bill, the man left and went into Stop & Shop at 148 Heights Rd.
Police arriving at the scene saw a man walking toward a vehicle in the supermarket parking lot. He matched the description given by the clerk at Leary's, so police detained the man, later identified as Stanley Alexander, 23, of 1416 E. 85th St. Brooklyn, NY.
On Alexander, police found a Stop & Shop receipt indicating that he paid for items with a $100 bill, receiving $90.44 in change. Police later determined that the $100 bill was counterfeit.
These two men and a woman were in the car that Alexander was walking toward, and each, together with Alexander, was arrested:
- Jean J. Charles Jr., age 27, of 1418 E. 85th St. Brooklyn, NY
- Tiani K. O’Sullivan, age 20, of 876 Kerkimer St. Brooklyn, NY
- James Fortune, age 19, of 1320 E. 93rd St. Brooklyn, NY
The four were each charged with four counts of first-degree forgery, three counts of sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny and attempted sixth-degree larceny.
Police searched the vehicle and found several counterfeit $100 bills, almost $3,000 in cash, and various goods bought from local stores, including CVS, Staples, Stop & Shop, Gamestop and Radio Shack.
Based on the property and cash that was recovered in their vehicle, police believe the four men are responsible for between 20-25 additional incidents in the Darien and Stamford area.
Charles posted bond at 1:55 a.m. Friday. The other three were held on $10,000.00 bond and were scheduled to be arraigned today, Friday, in state Superior Court in Stamford.
Editor's note: These other incidents where police allege that either that counterfeit $100 bills or phony gift cards were passed. Each was recently reported in Fairfield County:
Darien, July 12:
Monroe, July 10:
