PORT TOWNSEND — A seventh counterfeit $100 bill surfaced at a downtown Port Townsend business as law authorities sought a man who passed fake currency Wednesday.
Sgt. Ed Green with Port Townsend police said the federal Secret Service has been called in to investigate the case in which a suspect described as a short, thin Hispanic man in his mid- to early 20s handed the hard-to-identify phony bills to downtown merchants.
May have left area
He might have left the area after one bill was identified and a merchant’s employee confronted him, police said.
The man, who remained at large Saturday, was captured on video camera at the Mad Hatter, one of the Water Street businesses hit, and Green said an photo from the video could be released some time this week.
Green said the man was last seen leaving downtown in a white 2006 Fort Aerostar van.
The seventh counterfeit $100 bill handed over to police Thursday came from Port Townsend Gallery, 715 Water St.
Green encourages merchants to examine large bills carefully, even rejecting them.
“The merchants have the prerogative not to accept those big bills,” Green said.
Merchants warned
The Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce in its weekly newsletter issued a warning to merchants, after police contacted the business organization Wednesday.
Green said merchants who think a phony bill was passed should not hesitate to call 9-1-1 to notify police.
The bills were difficult to distinguish unless they were closely inspected, but they carried some defects, including the fonts being bolder and paper was coarser and thicker.
They carried authentic-looking markings, including electronic strips.
More bills may be undiscovered and unreported, Green said.
Green said merchants can obtain markers from their banks that will determine if a bill is fake, showing a certain color when the bill is marked.
Other merchants reporting being handed fake bills Wednesday included McDonald’s on East Sims Way at Haines Street, Artisans on Taylor and Vagabond Arts on Taylor Street, and Earthenworks, Mad Hatter & Co., and Wildernest outdoor store on Water Street.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@ peninsuladailynews.com.