KINGWOOD — Preston police say a Reedsville man told them he bought 100 counterfeit $100 bills online.
William Charles Lewis, 20, was charged with counterfeiting, a felony. He was in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on Friday afternoon in lieu of $35,000 bond.
Preston Sheriff’s Lt. J.H. Bryan said in the criminal complaint that at almost midnight Thursday he responded to a call of suspicious people hiding behind a concrete barrier on Showerbath Road, Kingwood, and found Lewis, Breonna Mancuso and Dustin Miller in the area.
Narcotics were within their reach, according to the complaint, so a K-9 was called to scan the area. The dog showed a positive response for narcotics. Lewis told officers a blue backpack in the area where the dog alerted for drugs belonged to him.
Inside, according to the complaint, were 39 counterfeit $100 bills. Lewis told police he bought 100 of the bills online, but “he had given the fictitious currency to at least four other persons.”
Miller, 25, of Tunnelton, was arrested and jailed on an unrelated petit larceny charge. He was still in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail Friday. According to that criminal complaint, he took a chainsaw from the back of a pickup Tuesday without the owner’s permission.
Mancuso was not charged.
Tweet @DominionPostWV Email kplum@dominionpost.com
