BENTONVILLE -- Police connected a Rogers man to three Craigslist deals where he purchased items with counterfeit money.
Alexis Antonio Carabantes, 23, of 1016 E. Duke Road in Rogers was arrested Tuesday in connection with four counts of first-degree forgery, three misdemeanor counts of theft of property, driving while license suspended or revoked and an expired vehicle license.
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Rogers police stopped Carabantes on Tuesday after a 2:38 p.m. call from Walmart, 4208 S. Pleasant Crossing Blvd., about a man who had purchased items with counterfeit $10 and $100 bills, according to police logs. Store employees recognized Carabantes as a person who paid with counterfeit $10 bills Thursday, said Keith Foster, Rogers police spokesman. Investigations in Rogers are ongoing, Foster said, but police believe Carabantes is connected to an incident Friday in Rogers.
Rogers police stopped a car driven by Carabantes on Tuesday and he was arrested on a Bentonville warrant, Foster said.
Carabantes was wanted in connection to three incidents in Bentonville, according to a police probable cause affidavit.
Bentonville police were called to the parking lot of Kum & Go, 2811 E. Central Ave., Sunday afternoon after a man told police he'd been paid $300 in counterfeit money for an XBox, according to police documents. As the buyer drove the car away the seller realized the money was fake and wrote down the license plate number later connected to Carabantes' car. Police noted the two $100 bills the man received shared the same serial number while three $20 bills shared one serial number and two shared another.
Bentonville police were called to Neighborhood Market, 3510 S.E. 14th St., minutes after the first counterfeit money report, by a person who sold a GPS system for $240 in the parking lot. The man told police two $100 bills had the same serial number and the paper looked like printer paper, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Both buyers listed the items on Craigslist and both received texts from the same cell phone before the exchange, according to police.
On Tuesday a man reported he received $300 in counterfeit money after selling a car stereo in the parking lot of Walmart, 3510 S.E. 14th Street on Sunday. The man told police he spent $200 of the money before a restaurant told him the remaining $100 bill was fake.
Carabantes was picked out of photo line ups in the three Bentonville cases
Rogers has had several reports of counterfeit money.
Friday a man told Rogers Police he'd listed a phone for sale online and met a man at Colton's Steak House, 4700 West Locust Street to make the exchange. The buyer handed him the money in a bank envelope but he realized the money was counterfeit as the man left.
First Western Bank, 2601 S. Champions Drive, reported counterfeit money Friday morning, after finding a deposit, according to Rogers police records. The deposit came from a $400 cash purchase at Finish Line on Thursday. Burger King, 500 S. Eight Street, reported a phony $20 bill on Thursday as did Hancock Fabrics, 2203 S. Promenade Blvd.
Police records also indicate a counterfeit $100 bill was turned down Friday afternoon by an employee in a strip mall at 2004 S. Promenade Blvd.
It's possible that some of counterfeit money was spent by people who had no idea the money was fake, Foster said.
Once Rogers concludes its investigation, the counterfeit bills will be sent to the Secret Service, he said.
A Springdale police spokesman said there have been several instances of counterfeit money in the city. No further details were available Wednesday.
Carabantes was being held Wednesday in the Benton County Jail with no bond set.
NW News on 09/03/2015