A man in Tennessee has been arrested after police mistakenly thought that he was using counterfeit money to pay for goods.
Lorenzo Gaspar was trying to pay for his items at a local convenience store when local police were alerted that there was a man using a counterfeit $50 bill by an employee.
Shelbyville, TN – police have apologized to Lorenzo Gaspar after arresting him for using counterfeit money at the local Quik Mart.
Gaspar was attempting to pay for his charges and handed the clerk a $50 note. The clerk ran the customary currency marker on the note which indicated a fake bill. The police were notified and Gaspar was taken away in cuffs and placed in jail while police conducted further tests on the note to determine its authenticity.
The arresting officer Brock Horner stated in the police report that the bill looked fake; it was not properly centered and did not feel like real currency. Officer Horner let the police evidence technician inspect the bill and was told that the note could be an older bill.
He was also told that older bills would not respond to the currency markers giving a false positive for being counterfeit. Officer Horner took the bill to two separate banks which confirmed the bill’s authenticity by the use of special “black” colored lighting in one case and up close inspection via magnification in another.
Gaspar was released with an apology. Perhaps it will be a case of “all’s well that ends well”. There is no word on how Gaspar came into possession of the older bill.
Tennessee police are apologizing after arresting a man for using a $50 bill they thought was fake but that turned out to be real. Police in Shelbyville thought the bill was counterfeit after a convenience store clerk called them. The clerk said a marker used to detect false money didn’t show the bill was real.
Source:
Man Arrested Real $50 Bill black light
http://www.t-g.com/story/1843748.html
Man Arrested After Real $50 Bill Was Reported as Fake
http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_20522541/cops-apologize-man-arrested-50-bill-that-turned
Lorenzo Gaspar Arrested For Paying With Real $50
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/lorenzo-gaspar-50-bill_n_1469361.html
All Currency have a year printed on it. The clerk should have looked at it first before calling police or the arresting officer should have looked at the year printed on it. Apology not accepted see you in court. He should turn 50 bucks in 50 million
Wow! a SHOCKINGLY ignorant comment…so…TAXPAYERs (you probably don’t pay taxes without a job) should pay $50 million for TWO HOURS spent in jail? I hate to tell you this since you choose to live in ignorance…but you can’t sue simply for being arrested and then later having the charges dropped.
@lakawak…
I hate to tell you this since you choose to live in ignorance, but you CAN sue for pretty much any reason, just don’t always expect to WIN if your case is frivolous.
Actually, you’re the shockingly ingnorant one. Yes, you CAN sue for being arrested and then later having the charges dropped. In the U.S., you can sue just about anyone for just about anything. That doesn’t mean that you’ll win, but, you can put the defendant through a lot of grief. Oh, and by the way, not only can you sue for false arrest (the legal term for an improper arrest, such as in this case), but you can also win a huge judgement for it.
Perhaps you’d better go repeat law school.
Actually, it would be false imprisonment. Spending anytime in jail is no picnic. If you’ve never been arrested and incarcerated under a false accusation, you have no basis for presuming it is no big deal. I can assure you, it is traumatizing.
Did you notice where this happened? In hillbilly country! What else would you expect?
Come on guys, I believe you all missed it. The real reason why the officer tried so hard to verify the bill was a counterfeit is that he found it impossible to believe this Hispanic guy was not breaking the law. I am Hispanic, and whenever I come across any police officer, they usually profile me. Even though I have done nothing wrong, I have been treated really bad by them. for those who wonder, suffice to say that I have never committed any crime and yet, I am often treated as one.
“Officer Horner let the police evidence technician inspect the bill and was told that the note could be an older bill.” i guess two heads arent better then one dumb and dumber went to college and now got good careers but forgot that all bills have a date it was printed fucken pendejos! judgin by the name lorenzo gaspar he is probably a brown brother **** like this dont happen to lighter colored skin people fucken racist hillbillies
Hahahah you gotta be kiddin a police officer unable to identify money, the cop must be a newb probabaly his first year on the job how old is he 20+ or what. An older cop whould have notice the bill as real. As is old timers do know the difference if his been on the force for more than 20 or 30 years. Except the new generation of cops all thay do is hangout on facebook. They have no idea between new, and old currency. The JUDGE is a newb as well. I all judges should regonize old curreny as is.