Counterfeit hits Holmes Beach

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The Holmes Beach Police Department is looking for a tattooed man shown on video tendering a counterfeit $20 at Cupcake Delights, 3324 E. Bay Drive. The incident occurred Feb. 15. Islander Photo: Courtesy HBPD

Merchants beware.

’Tis the season for counterfeit money.

Cupcake Delights, 3324 E. Bay Drive, Holmes Beach, reported a man entered the shop at 4:14 p.m. Feb. 15 and presented a counterfeit $20 bill for payment.

As the man was paying store owner Judy Owens, she marked the bill with a detector pen and the mark turned black, indicating a counterfeit, according the Holmes Beach police report.

She said the money “felt funny,” gave it back and “sent him on his way.”

Whether the man unwittingly presented the counterfeit, Owens said she didn’t know.

The only other form of payment the man had was a $100 bill, according to the report.

Paradise Boat Tours in Bradenton Beach owner Sherman Baldwin reported a counterfeit $10 passed Jan. 16 at his business at the Historic Bridge Street Pier. That bill was accepted and wasn’t checked with a detector pen until later, when the register money was being counted, Baldwin told The Islander.
Anyone with information on the person who presented the counterfeit bill in the Cupcake Delights incident is asked to call Holmes Beach police at 941-778-COPS.