Working together, Albany and Bethlehem police cracked a counterfeit case where fake 100-dollar bills were passed at a Delmar drugstore, said Commander Adam N. Hornick, spokesman for the Bethlehem Police. He called it an example of successful cooperation between law-enforcement agencies.

Luck also played into it, he said.

Bethlehem Police received a call from the CVS in Delmar at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 1, saying that a male and female had used 18 counterfeit hundred-dollar bills to buy gift cards at the store. Police got accounts from witnesses, including a vague description of a “white car”; collected surveillance video; and began to share that information, Hornick said.

Within hours, Hornick said, New York State Police who were conducting a check for drunk drivers on Interstate 90 in Guilderland stopped a car and had unrelated probable cause to search it. Inside, they found counterfeit money, Hornick said, as well as “a receipt from our CVS, dated only a short time before.”

The search turned up 13 counterfeit hundred-dollar bills, along with a fake Visa debit card, several fake gift cards, some stolen property, and marijuana, according to a press release from the State Police.

Bethlehem officers saw the suspects in State Police custody, and identified two of them as people from the surveillance video, Hornick said, noting that they were wearing the same clothes. In the car were all the gift cards bought at the Delmar CVS, Hornick said, as well as some others; police are working now to determine where those were purchased.

State Police on Sept. 1 arrested all three people in the car, Hornick said, and then Bethlehem Police retrieved them from Albany county’s jail to charge two of them. Since the third suspect never entered the Delmar CVS, Hornick said, “We can’t prove that they were in the vehicle or had any knowledge.”

On Sept. 5, Bethlehem Police arrested  Jamillia S. Rosa, 25, of Brooklyn and Christian A. Rivera, 21, of the Bronx, charging each of them with 18 counts of first-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, fourth-degree grand larceny, and fourth-degree conspiracy —  all felonies.

Rosa is currently on parole with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision under the name Millie Perez.

Rosa and Rivera were both arraigned in Bethlehem Town Court before Judge Ryan Donovan, and remanded to Albany County’s jail without bail; their preliminary hearings are scheduled for Sept. 7 in town court.

State Police arrests

On Sept. 1, the State Police had arrested Rosa; Rivera; and the car’s driver, Dejon A. Green, 28, of New York City. The State Police charged all three with 13 counts of first-degree possession of a forged instrument and second-degree possession of a forged instrument — both felonies, and with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.

Additionally, Greene and Rivera were charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a misdemeanor, and Rosa alone was charged with second-degree criminal impersonation, a misdemeanor.

All three were scheduled to be arraigned in Guilderland Town Court on Saturday, Sept. 2, the release from the State Police says. A State Police spokesman could not be reached by press time.

Store owners cautioned

Hornick said that the Bethlehem Police caution all store owners that, when customers use hundred-bills for nominal purchases, such as candy bars, “That’s a red flag that they’re looking to maximize their return of genuine U.S. currency.”

In this case, he said, staff at the drugstore realized that all 18 of the hundred-dollar bills had one of two serial numbers, when no two real bills have the same serial numbers.

Another indicator for store clerks, Hornick said, is that the images in a real bill are printed in, rather than on, the paper, and when the paper is rubbed, some color may come off on the fingers, but the image on the bill will not be damaged. With counterfeit bills, the image is printed on the paper so rubbing damages the image, he said.

The investigation continues, Hornick said, including into whether those charged are involved in manufacturing the counterfeit money.