Three arrested for counterfeit money operation
–On Sept. 14, at approximately 8:30 p.m. the San Luis Obispo Police Department received a call of suspects passing counterfeit bills at Vons grocery store located at 3900 Broad St in the city of San Luis Obispo. The suspects passed two counterfeit $100 bills to purchase $200 worth of miscellaneous gift cards.
A short time later, the San Luis Obispo Police Department received another call of suspects passing counterfeit bills at the Chevron located at 2000 Monterey St. The suspects used a counterfeit $100 bill to purchase scratch-off lottery tickets. After officers checked the video surveillance at both locations, it was determined the suspects were the same.
The following day, the same suspects entered the Rite Aid, located at 956 Foothill, and passed two counterfeit $100 dollar bills. The store manager obtained a good description of the suspect vehicle. A short time later, officers located the vehicle at a local motel in the city of San Luis Obispo. As officers were attempting to contact the suspects at their motel room, the suspects began throwing evidence out of the rear window of the room.
All three suspects were located inside of the motel room and were taken into custody without incident. The suspects were identified as 33-year-old Nathan Dunhoff, 44-year-old Jason Provence, and 23-year-old Tyler Morris.
Officers recovered evidence of counterfeiting materials, counterfeit manufacturing equipment and merchandise purchased with the counterfeit money inside of the motel room. The suspects are all from Orange County and are being held at the San Luis Obispo County Jail on $25,000 bail.
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