by James Fisher
STAFF WRITER
Petersburg police have arrested two Elkins juveniles for allegedly passing counterfeit bills. Bridgeport police believe they are the same two who earlier this week allegedly passed counterfeit $50 bills in Bridgeport.
A female suspect in the case has not yet been apprehended, police said.
The juveniles, arrested Wednesday in the Eastern Panhandle town, have been released to the custody of their parents, Capt. Mike Beeman of the Petersburg Police Department said.
An undetermined amount of counterfeit money was recovered by police, Beeman said.
Bridgeport Police Chief of Detectives Carl Springer said more of the funny money has been cropping up at area businesses. Another bill was recovered from a Meadowbrook Mall store Thursday, he said.
"These bills are going to be appearing for the next month or so," he said. "There will be stores and banks that will discover they have this money and turn it in to us."
Springer said he has been in contact with law enforcement agencies all this week trying to determine how many bills the alleged suspects have passed.
Fake bills allegedly connected with the suspects have turned up in several cities between Bridgeport and Petersburg, including Weston, Elkins, Belington and Phillipi, he said.
The case has been referred to the Grant County prosecutor's office, Beeman said.