By Jeff Hamlin
Assistant News Director

The Carrboro Police Department is urging merchants and businesses to be on the lookout for any counterfeit money after an arrest yielded stacks of phony money.

Captain J.G. Booker of the Carrboro Police Department says fake money was found by a drug-sniffing dog in a Honda driven by a suspect already facing trespassing charges on Wednesday afternoon.

The situation started when an officer noticed Marcus Sharpe at the Oakwood Apartments Public Housing Complex. Sharpe already had been ordered to stay off the complex’s grounds. Later, police caught up with him at the Harris Teeter parking lot off of Greensboro Street and charged him with second-degree trespassing.

A K-9 unit was called to the scene, where the police dog found thousands of dollars in counterfeit money on the driver’s side door panel. Officers immediately noted the money didn’t feel smooth and noticed white lines that made it appear the cash had been photocopied. Several of the bills had the same serial numbers.

Booker says some of the counterfeit cash may have passed through the area recently.

Carrboro police has already been in contact with the Secret Service about the case.