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Counterfeit money recovered from Austintown Get Go
By Josh stipanovich
austintown
Police recovered $220 — two $100 bills and one $20 bill — in counterfeit money from the GetGo gas station on Mahoning Avenue just after 8 a.m. Thursday.
This latest incident comes just days after counterfeit money was discovered at the Giant Eagle and Rite Aid on Mahoning.
Detective Shawn Hevener said although both investigations are pending, the recovered bills are “the same type of money” with the same pattern.
“The bills look real,” Hevener said. He added that the bills even had close watermarks.
Detective Lt. Jeff Solic said he saw the money when it was turned in Thursday but that he hadn’t heard anything else involved with the case.
Police still are waiting for surveillance video from Giant Eagle and the GetGo to help them identify a suspect.
Three locations in Boardman — Rite Aid, CVS and Giant Eagle — and the Giant Eagle in Canfield were hit by two men in a matter of hours last Friday and Saturday, according to reports. They reportedly spent thousands of dollars in counterfeit money on Western Union money orders.
Nearly $10,000 in counterfeit money was used between the locations.
Store managers sent out notifications to other area stores about the fake money. After watching surveillance footage from CVS, Boardman police determined the suspect was the same person who used the counterfeit money at each Giant Eagle location.
Austintown police contacted Boardman police in reference to the counterfeit money Saturday, according to a report. Austintown advised Boardman the two male suspects might have been driving a two-tone silver and white four-door Mazda or Mercedes with a North Carolina registration.