Suspected Peters Twp. counterfeiters caught
From left, Jerome Eric McCullom and Jalisa Chakara Curtis
Jerome McCullom
Jalisa Curtis
McMURRAY – Two people who have been in Washington County jail since early November after counterfeit $100 bills were found in their car during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 have now been charged with passing the phony money at two Peters Township stores.
Township police are investigating the possibility the pair might be involved in other similar cases in Washington and Allegheny counties, as well as Ohio, and possibly even more states.
According to township Detective Bryan Barbour, Jerome Eric McCullom, 40, and Jalisa Chakara Curtis, 22, both of Columbus, Ohio, were stopped by Donegal Township police on Interstate 70 near the Claysville exit Nov. 6 in what was described as a routine traffic stop. Police found marijuana, drug paraphernalia, 19 counterfeit $100 bills, and receipts from Kmart and Dollar Tree on Washington Road in McMurray in Curtis’ purse, Barbour said.
The pair were placed in the Washington County jail on $20,000 bond on charges of forgery, conspiracy, and possession of marijuana, and Donegal police got in touch with loss prevention officers at the the two stores.
Barbour said surveillance video showed McCullom entering Dollar Tree and giving a store employee a counterfeit $100 bill for $11.48 in merchandise about an hour before the traffic stop. Video also showed Curtis entered Kmart at roughly the same time, and gave a clerk a fake $100 bill for $24.48 in merchandise.
Peters police are charging both McCullom and Curtis with forgery and theft by deception. They are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday before District Judge James Ellis and have preliminary hearings scheduled for Dec. 29.