DUBOIS – A Michigan couple accused of passing counterfeit bills was in court Friday for a preliminary hearing.
Andrion Nakia Brown, 38, of River Rouge, Mich., and Michael Richard Tate, 28, of Southfield, Mich., were apprehended Feb. 25 after Brown had allegedly used counterfeit money to make purchases at a few area businesses.
They are both charged with felony counts of forgery, receiving stolen property and theft by unlawful taking and a misdemeanor count of possession instruments of crime.
They waived their rights to preliminary hearings during centralized court at District Judge Patrick Ford’s office. Brown’s bail was lowered from $100,000 to $25,000 but Tate’s bail remains at $100,000. Both are still incarcerated.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were called after someone attempted to use counterfeit bills at Sally Hair Salon. The cashier there realized the $100 bill was fake and said so to the woman who left the store and got into a silver vehicle with out-of-state plates.
When an officer appeared on the scene, he checked the parking lot but did not see the described vehicle. He then received another call that the woman had used a counterfeit bill to purchase items at Petco. He drove back in that direction where he saw a silver car outside TJ Maxx with Michigan plates. He ran the license plate and discovered that it was a rental car.
After the officer waited for a while, a woman who matched the description of the woman came out of the store. When she got near the vehicle, he asked her to put the bags she was carrying on the ground and her hands on the roof of the car. She was told why she was being detained. The officer said he could see bags from Petco and other local stores in the vehicle.
The woman, identified as Brown, said she was alone and claimed she had used real money to make her purchases. She was taken into custody. When the officer opened the driver’s side door to remove the keys, he saw an envelope that appeared to have currency in it. Inside the envelope were numerous $50 and $100 bills that the officer believed were counterfeit.
Police searched the parking lot for a man who was thought to be with Brown and found him near Lowe’s. He gave police several false names as he was taken into custody. Eventually it was determined he was Michael Richard Tate, who had active warrants through Arizona.
Police said the fake currency was used throughout the shopping plaza. There were five victims who accepted the bills for a total of $2,000 worth of merchandise. There was an additional $500 in counterfeit money in the envelope found in the vehicle, the report said.