A Levittown woman was arrested Thursday for passing fake bills at a Lower Makefield Hallmark store.
Lower Makefield police were called around 6:30 p.m. after a manager at the Norman’s Hallmark on Big Oak Road reported a woman bought two inspirational signs using $80 in counterfeit money, according to court papers.
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The signs were purchased with eight fake $10 bills and two legitimate $10 bills. The woman received $4.62 in change back, police said.
Before police arrived at the store, the manager at the Lower Makefield store called the Hallmark store at the Oxford Valley Mall and warned them of what happened. At the Middletown store, a woman matching the description of the suspect was there trying to return the two inspirational signs, which cost $95, court papers say.
The woman – Sherrie Martindell, 26 – was identified because she dropped a credit card in the Lower Makefield store, police said.
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Authorities said they transported the Lower Makefield store manager to the mall and she confirmed the woman who tried to return the inspirational signs was the same woman who paid for them with several counterfeit bills.
“Not all the money is fake,” Martindell allegedly told officers following her arrest.
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Martindell was charged with two counts of forgery and single counts of possession of an instrument of crime with intent, receiving stolen property and theft by deception. She was arraigned by 0n-call District Judge Daniel Baranoski and sent to county prison on 10 percent of $50,000 bail.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
