An attempt to pay for nearly $1,000 in tires with fake money landed two Jacksonville residents in jail on Wednesday, police said.
Jerry Jerrett and Regina Mornes were arrested after an employee at Tires for Less, 200 Municipal Drive, called authorities to alert them of a couple trying to pay part of a $924 bill with $400 in counterfeit cash, according to a Jacksonville Police Department report.
Police arrived to find that the pair had given a fake name when making purchase and left the store in a white Cadillac. The employee gave a description of the man, which an officer recognized, leading them to a residence at 1407 Plummer St. in Jacksonville, the report states.
Officers pulled over a white Cadillac they saw leaving the residence when they arrived. Both Jerrett and Mornes were questioned, and Jerrett told police he had received the money from “Ramon,” who paid him $2,000 in exchange for prescription drugs, the report states.
Jerrett later told authorities he tried to deposit $500 of the money at a local U.S. Bank branch but was told the money was no good, authorities say. Agents with the Secret Service were contacted to assist in retrieving the rest of the money, which Jarrett said was at the Plummer Street home.
Both Jerrett and Mornes were arrested on charges of first-degree forgery.