Police in Hamden and Greenwich arrested people accused of passing fake $100 bills in separate cases over the weekend.
Both arrests happened on Friday at separate Walgreens.
Hamden Police said James Luna, 28, of Staten Island, New York, went to the cash register of the Walgreens at 1191 Dixwell Avenue with some inexpensive items and a counterfeit $100 bill on Friday, so Walgreens staff notified Hamden police.
As police responded, Luna ran from the store and got into a car driven by Jorge Hidalgo, 32, of Meriden, who tried to get away from the area, police said.
Police immediately detained them and determined that Hidalgo had gone into Walgreens earlier in the day, passed a fake $100 bill and received $90 in change.
When officers searched Hidalgo’s car, they found an envelope with nearly $2,000 in cash, police said, and contacted the United States Secret Service.
Both men were charged with first-degree forgery, conspiracy to commit larceny in the sixth degree and interfering with a police officer.
Both were detained on a $100,000 and are scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on March 26.
On the same day, Greenwich police also made a counterfeit cash arrest at a Walgreens.
At 9:19 p.m., police responded to the Walgreens at 1333 East Putnam Avenue to investigate a woman trying to pass a counterfeit $100 bill.
They said Stephany Quintero, 22, of Jackson Heights, New York, tried to buy $10.28 worth of items with a fake $100. When police checked her purse, they found several other fake $100 bills and marijuana, police said.
She was charged with first-degree forgery and possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana.
In January, Greenwich police issued a warning about counterfeit $100 bills being passed in the area. At the time the warning was issued, the fake bills being passed had the number "77" on the back.
