Trio Caught With Over $1K In Counterfeit Bills After Using Them At Waterbury Store, Police Say

The arrests resulted from an incident in New Haven County on Monday, Sept. 9 that began around 2 p.m., when detectives witnessed suspicious activity involving two cars in the parking lot of a retail establishment in the area of Union Street in Waterbury, Connecticut State Police said on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

With the help of store employees, detectives pieced together that two people connected with the suspicious vehicles had bought at least $840 worth of merchandise from the business using counterfeit bills, according to State Police.

Authorities then followed the suspicious cars and saw the suspects traveling in them try to use counterfeit money at two more businesses on Wolcott Street and Bank Street, police said.

Three people were then arrested in the parking lot of the third store. They were identified as:

• Lemuel Gravesande of Brooklyn, New York, age 26;
• Alisa Mingo of Brooklyn, New York, age 27;
• Anthony Roberts of Waterbury, age 30.

Following the three arrests, detectives found the trio in possession of an additional $1,100 in counterfeit $20 bills in addition to receipts for the purchases made at the Union Street establishment, according to police.

The trio were all charged with first-degree conspiracy to commit forgery and fifth-degree conspiracy to commit larceny. Gravesande and Roberts were later released on a $50,000 surety bond and will be arraigned in Waterbury Superior Court on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, Mingo was held on a $50,000 bond and will be arraigned at Waterbury Superior Court on Tuesday.

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