By Hicham Raache
Stephens Media

FORT SMITH — Counterfeit bills continue to crop up in the River Valley, with fake $100 bills showing up following last week’s rash of bogus $20s.

Three fake $100 bills were reported to have been passed at different fast food restaurants in Fort Smith on Friday and Saturday, according to police reports. A Burger King supervisor spoke with officer Jason Thompson on Friday and reported that a customer had passed a counterfeit $100 at the restaurant’s drive-thru, 1200 Towson Ave. Surveillance footage revealed that a heavyset white male driving a burgundy four-door passenger car passing the fake bill, according to the report.

The supervisor said that an employee used a pen to check if the bill showed the color that indicated it was valid, and the appropriate color came up. Later, it was found that the bill did not have a security strip in it, the report states.

The Burger King supervisor contacted police again on Saturday and spoke with officer Kyle Story. The supervisor told Story that the same heavyset white male passed a bogus $100 at the Burger King drive-thru at 3311 Midland Blvd. Upon viewing the surveillance footage, Story determined that the suspect was around 23 to 33 years old, according to a police report.

Police were also called to Taco Bell, 915 N. Greenwood Ave., on Saturday, in response to a customer attempting to pass a fake $100 at the drive-thru. Officer Brandon McKinney spoke with the customer who had passed the bill, a white male, but the customer said he had found the bill by a trash can at a car wash. McKinney confiscated the bill, according to a police report.

Several counterfeit $20 bills were passed in Crawford and Sebastian counties last week. Some of the bogus bills passed in Van Buren appeared to have the same serial number.