By Jim Clark

Police officers were dispatched to the Dunkin’ Donuts on Somerville Ave. last Friday on reports that a customer was passing counterfeit money.

Upon arrival, the officers located the suspect, Jamal Haywood, and approached him for questioning.

When asked for identification, Haywood reportedly hesitated and told the officers that he was not carrying any.

When asked if he had anything dangerous on him, he stated that he had a knife, which was recovered shortly thereafter.

Haywood was asked if he had a wallet, which he removed from his pocket. According to reports, Haywood initially stated that he did not have a wallet. The officers removed a Social Security card from the wallet.

Haywood reportedly claimed that he was an employee at the Dunkin’ Donuts and that he had personal items stored in the back of the store, but this proved to be untrue.

Police contacted a store employee by phone and learned that Haywood had reportedly passed counterfeit bills there on multiple occasions. The bills were discovered to be counterfeit by use of a marking device utilized for this purpose.

Haywood began asking for his wallet back, but the officers explained to him that he had removed his wallet from himself, and the only item they took from it was his Social Security card, which was returned.

Haywood reportedly became upset and stated that his wallet was in the back room of the store. He also said to that he did not have another wallet. When asked how it would have gotten from his person to the back of the store, he did not have an answer.

The officers then began to search under tables, in seat cushions, on the floor and everywhere else within the area to search for the wallet. After approximately 10 minutes of searching, they were unable to locate the wallet.

Haywood reportedly told police that he initially did not want to produce ID because he believed he had a warrant out on him. After running Haywood’s Social Security number from the card the officers obtained from his wallet, it showed that he had an active arrest warrant out of Boston.

After Haywood was placed into handcuffs, he reportedly admitted to passing the counterfeit bills. When asked if he knew the money was fake, he responded that he did.

When asked if that was the only fake money that he had, Haywood reportedly said it was not. The officers asked him where the rest of the money was, and he said it was in his wallet, which he had concealed in the front of his underwear when the officers turned the other direction during their initial encounter with him.

Haywood reportedly said that he had “paid $1,000 for $2,500 of fake money.” When asked where and who he got the money from, he refused to answer and said that it was his deal and he wouldn’t give up that information. He did say, “It’s nobody that lives around here, you wouldn’t be able to find him any ways.”

The officers then asked if it was from out of the state, maybe New York. Haywood reportedly responded, “Yes, see you know everything already.”

Haywood was subsequently placed under arrest on charges of utter counterfeit note and possession of counterfeit notes, and on a warrant charge of prisoner vandalizing jail.

The missing wallet was recovered prior to placing Haywood inside the prisoner transport vehicle. All the counterfeit notes have been submitted into evidence.

The store employee who accepted the counterfeit bills was interviewed by police and it was learned that he has been acquainted with Haywood for about 10 years.

Surveillance video supplied by the store reportedly showed the employee marking the counterfeit bills with the marking device, then putting them in the till anyway.

The employee denied that he intentionally accepted the bills, but police have said that they will be conducting a further investigation of this.