Man Arrested For Using Real $50 Bill, Police Apologize
Man arrested for using real $50 bill — A man who used a real $50 bill at a Shelbyville, Tenn. convenience store got rather more than he bargained for last week.
Lorenzo Gaspar’s trip to the store resulted in him being arrested and thrown in a cell, only to be released a few hours later with an apology from police.
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette reports that police were called to a Quik Mart store in the area to arrest Gaspar, after the store owner suspected his bill to be a fake.
The store clerk told authorities the marker pen he uses to detect phony money didn’t show the bill was real, and said it didn’t “feel right.”
Police duly booked and imprisoned Gaspar, before it was found Gaspar’s money was actually the real deal. Police evidence technician Sgt. Bill Logue informed arresting officer Brock Horner that some old bills don’t react to the markers. Police asked two banks to check, and Logue was proven to be correct: both banks determined it was real.
Mr. Gaspar was freed from prison after a judicial commissioner ordered his released, suggesting that the unhappy shopper change the bill at a bank for a newer one.
To Officer Horner’s credit, he would later apologize personally to Gaspar. However, a cash reward for Gaspar’s inconvenience at being arrested and imprisoned has not been forthcoming.
