Old $50 bill found real, but not before bearer arrested

Shelbyville Times-Gazette | May 1, 2012
By David Melson

What officers thought was a counterfeit $50 bill turned out to be an old, legitimate bill, but the truth wasn't discovered until a man was mistakenly charged and jailed Friday.
A clerk at Quik Mart, South Cannon Boulevard, notified police after the marker used to detect counterfeit bills didn't check as real.

"The front side of the bill was off center and it didn't feel like a normal bill, it did look to be counterfeit," officer Brock Horner said in his report.

Truth discovered

After Lorenzo Gaspar was jailed, Horner showed the bill to Sgt. Bill Logue, the Shelbyville Police Department's evidence technician, who told him old legitimate bills wouldn't "check" with a marker and suggested he have it inspected at a bank.

Horner took the bill to two banks, where it was determined as "real but very old" at one and proven real by a black light and magnifying glass at another.

A judicial commissioner had Gaspar released from jail and Horner apologized for the arrest, the report said. Gasper was told by Horner to take the bill to a bank and have it exchanged for a newer one.