Lufkin Man Arrested for Forgery, Linked to Counterfeiting Ring

The Lufkin Police Department issued the following press release in regards to the arrest of a Lufkin man in connection with a counterfeiting ring. 

Police are investigating a possible counterfeiting ring that resulted in the arrest of a Lufkin man overnight Tuesday.  Officers arrested Brenton Tarver, 39, after a South Timberland Drive McDonalds manager reported that a man in a white Ford pickup paid with a fake $20 bill. Employees stalled Tarver until officers arrived on scene. Tarver told officers he did not know the money was fake and that he had been given two $20 bills by a friend for helping her move earlier in the day. He said he used another of the bills at a Polk Pick-It-Up on North Timberland Drive and that the clerk saw no issue with it.

The McDonald’s manager told officers he had already received two fake $20 bills earlier in the night from a man in a dark-colored SUV, so he advised his employees to be careful about the cash payments they took.

Tarver was taken into custody on a charge of third-degree felony forgery and a warrant for no insurance. His passenger was questioned and released. Tarver’s truck was towed from the scene and no additional counterfeit money was found inside.

The serial number on the bill Tarver gave as payment matched the number on a fake $20 bill South Timberland Drive Taco Bell employees took as payment earlier Tuesday. The officer warned a store manager of several incidents this week of a man in a black Dodge Durango paying with counterfeit bills. The manager said she had a vehicle fitting that description come through in the past few days with a man who attempted to pay with a $100 bill. After her machine would not accept the bill, the man paid with another bill.

The Angelina County Sheriff’s Office arrested David Antley Jr., 33, of Diboll, on warrants for theft and forgery of a financial instrument of the elderly. At the time of his arrest, he had fake bills on him that matched those taken from McDonald’s and Taco Bell.
Officers responded to three local businesses Saturday in reference to fake $20 bills – one unsuccessful attempt at Walmart involving a man in a black Dodge Durango, a successful attempt at Sonic involving a suspect of the same description and a third at the South Timberland Drive Taco Bell in which the employee did not know who passed the bill.