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Cops flush out bathroom counterfeit operation

Jody Lawrence-Turner
Staff writer
June 6, 2008

It might be a good thing they stopped him. Seems he doesn't have too many more brain cells to kill.

A homeless 19-year-old man who police say spent $100 on a color copier and paper to make counterfeit money so he could buy $90 worth of marijuana is in Spokane County Jail.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Calvin Robinson on forgery charges after finding him, the printer and counterfeit $10 bills in a River Park Square restroom Wednesday.

Deputies say Robinson told them he decided to set up the counterfeiting operation in the mall's third-floor family bathroom because he needed an electrical outlet and a locking door and had no other place to go.

"I don't believe he's going to be recruited by NASA," Spokane County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

Robinson made an initial court appearance Thursday in Spokane County District Court, where bail was set at $15,000.

He has previous convictions for vehicle theft and possession of stolen property.

On Wednesday, security officers noticed that a man had been locked in the mall's third-floor bathroom for more than an hour, said Reagan.

"Once the door was open, the officer saw a color copier sitting on the floor," Reagan said.

Sheets of paper printed with uncut $10 counterfeit bills were found in the bathroom garbage can.

The serial number on a legitimate $10 bill deputies said they found in Robinson's pocket matched the fake bills.

"They might have passed muster if you were giving them to some 17-year-old at a fast-food restaurant. He was planning to buy drugs, so maybe it would have worked," Reagan said.

Robinson refused media requests for a jailhouse interview.

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