Brooksville, Fla. (Newsradio WFLA) - A group of people accused of counterfeiting money might have passed fake bills across the state, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies caught the five people, ranging in age from 17 to 21, after incidents at the WalMart on Cortez Blvd. last Sunday, according to a news release from the HCSO.
The group entered the store together and Aaron Jamar Samuel Shaw, Thalia Diaz and Jeiza Ashanti Graham each tried to buy Visa pre-paid gift cards with counterfeit $50 bills, the release said. Cashiers immediately recognized the money that Shaw and Diaz presented as fake and those two ran out of the store. Hearing the commotion, deputies said, Graham abandoned her attempted transaction and hurried out of the store with the others.
A WalMart loss-prevention employee reported their Toyota Highlander SUV to the Sheriff's Office, and deputies made a traffic stop and arrested them. They say the also found a misdemeanor amount of marijuana inside the SUV.
The same group had gotten away with a similar counterfeit scam at a WalMart in Spring Hill earlier that day, deputies said. Store surveillance video showed the group in the store, where they succeeded in passing $400 in fake bills to buy gift cards.
The HCSO says it investigates other cases involving the same group, and more charges "are pending," according to the news release, and that "agencies throughout the state of Florida have requested the assistance of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office with their own cases involving this group."
Those arrested and their charges:
Aaron Jamar Samuel Shaw, 21: Uttering Counterfeit Bills Grand Theft
Jeiza Ashanti Graham, 17: Uttering Counterfeit Bills, Grand Theft, Providing False Name to LEO, Juvenile Pick Up Order Broward County - Possession of Weapon on School Property
Jeffery Scot Robinson, 20: Possession of Marijuana less than 20 Grams
Thalia Diaz, 18: Uttering Counterfeit Bills, Grand Theft
Kayla Alyssa Lopez, 19: Released. Charges Pending