Shoyn M Johnson. Photo courtesy Greenwich Police Dept
On March 17, Mr. Shoyn M Johnson, 27, of 13822 242nd Street in Rosedale, NY was arrested by Greenwich Police following an incident at CVS on Greenwich Avenue.
Police received a report from an employee at CVS on Greenwich Ave that someone was attempting to pass counterfeit bills. The employee had received a photo of Mr. Johnson and told that he had been suspected of passing counterfeit bills a day earlier at the CVS in Riverside.
“The investigating officer goes to the CVS at 99 Greenwich Avenue, where the store manager said he had received a photo of a male subject who had attempted to pass the bill somewhere else,” said Lt. Gray at the Monday police briefing. “The investigating officer immediately recognized him from surveillance footage from where he was investigating a separate incident from the previous day at 1233 E Putnam Ave.”
Mr. Johnson was immediately identified by an officer on scene as the suspect in past attempts to pass counterfeit at local CVS stores.
After he was detained and searched, he was found to be in possession of a counterfeit $100 bill.
While investigating this complaint, Mr.Johnson lied to officers about who was involved, saying that he had been dropped off by an unknown male, and giving a false description of the person and their car.
Greenwich Police established that Mr. Johnson’s car was in the parking lot and contained items acquired by passing counterfeit bills at the CVS in the west side of town.
Police also determined that Mr. Johnson had attempted to mislead them about the age of his juvenile accomplice.
“You have the right to remain silent, but not the right to lie to cops,” Lieutenant Gray said.
Lt Gray explained that US Secret Service investigates counterfeiting and that police know, through networking and training from the Secret Service, that there are very few counterfeit bills in circulation.
“There are different ways people people counterfeit bills,” Gray continued. “We must always be up to date on the current anti-counterfeit features – including watermarks and strips – on US currency, especially if you’re in a retail position. Don’t rely on the electronic, mechanical counterfeit detection devices.”
“In this case, the counterfeiter was not particularly sophisticated. It was off in color based on the officer’s encounter,” Gray said.
Mr. Johnson was charged with Forgery 1 and Interfering with a Police Officer.
Johnson’s bond was set at $50,000, which he was unable to post. He was assigned a court date in Stamford Superior Court on March 24, 2017.