Counterfeit $5 Bills Found in Santa Rosa County- Man Arrested

Milton Man Arrested for Possession of Counterfeit Money

On 3/09/12 at 0530 hours, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to the Emerald Sands Luxury Inn in reference to possible drugs and counterfeiting. Dispatch advised that Hotel staff had observed possible narcotics and counterfeit bills in room #139.

Upon arrival , Deputies spoke with security for the hotel. Security advised that the subject in room #139 ; Mr Tyrell Lindsey; had counterfeit $5 bills in his room. Security stated that when house keeping  went to the room at 1050 hrs no one answered the door. The subject was to be out by 1100 hrs so house keeping assumed he had left. House Keeping entered the room and began to remove the linen when they observed a back pack and a clear plastic bag. In the clear bag were sheets of paper with $5 bills printed on them. House Keeping called security and when security arrived, they observed the printed bills and called the Sheriff’s Office.

Security stated that Mr Lindsey was still on the hotel grounds and came from apartment 40. Lindset arrived and demanded to know what was happening and when he was advised that law enforcement was called he grabbed the back pack and bag. Lindsey then placed them into a grey Mustang that was parked nearby. He then ran to apartment 40 and called a white female out of the apartment. He told her they had to leave and security stated that they took a photo of the vehicle and tag before it left.

Deputies then spoke with the house keeper. They stated that they were given a check out sheet for room 139. They went to the room around 1050 hrs and knocked to see if the resident had left yet. They stated they had to clean the room after check out at 1100 hrs but sometimes people leave early. House Keeping intended to see if the subject was still there and if not start cleaning the room.

House Keeping knocked numerous times. When no one answered, they used their pass key to open the door. Upon seeing no one in the room, they began to remove the linen in preparation to clean the room. They then observed a dark colored back pack and a clear plastic bag. They could see pages of printed $5 dollar bills. They then notified security to respond to the room. House Keeping went to the dumpster and saw the black male that was staying in the room coming across the parking lot. House Keeping heard him state “Oh No” and “Oh My God” as he went to the room.

Deputies responded to the listed address for Mr Tyrell Lindsey which is 7292 South Airport Rd. They observed the grey Mustang. Deputies made contact with Mr Lindsey and the white female driver; later identified as Terri Beck. Post Miranda , deputies spoke with Ms Terri Beck the owner of the grey Mustang. She stated that she had been visiting friends at apartment 40. She admitted she drank too much and started an argument. Tyrell is an old friend of hers and she saw him and spoke with him. Since she was very intoxicated he agreed to drive her home to Pensacola. Earlier that morning, Tyrell told her he had to get back to the hotel so she drove him back to Milton.

She went to get her Cellular telephone from her friends apartment. Shortly later, Tyrell was banging on the door telling her they had to go now. She stated when she went to her car the hotel security lady was photographing her car. She then left the complex and drove Tyrell to his home on Airport Rd. While en route she stated that Tyrell acted really nervous and was holding his back pack to his chest. He would not tell her what was going on but just rocked back and forth holding his backpack.

Deputies then read Mr Tyrell Lindsey his Miranda Rights and he agreed to speak with deputies without an attorney. He stated he has been staying in room #139 since Friday because he was fighting with his brother. His mother had paid for the room until his brother could calm down. He was asked about the counterfeit bills and he stated he found them next to the dumpster at the hotel. He stated he picked them up and took them to his room. Tyrell stated he spent the night in Pensacola because he took his friend Terri home because she was drunk.

When he returned he saw the cleaning crew in his room. He removed his property and took the counterfeit bills. He stated there were pages of the bills (all $5) and several loose bills. He stated he knew they were fake but took them anyway. He stated he knew he was wrong for keeping the bills but claimed he had nothing to do with their making. He knew law enforcement had been called and tried to get rid of the bills. He stated he took the sheets of bills and put them in a burn barrel and put water on them. He stated he also put the loose bills in the washing machine at his residence.

Deputies questioned Tyrell as to why he took the bills and tried to dispose of them before law enforcement arrived, if he had nothing to do with them. He could not answer that question. Deputies spoke with Tyrell’s mother by telephone. She stated that Deputies could look in her residence. In a white metal 55 gal drum, deputies located several pages of paper with $5 bills printed on them after removing the water that filled the drum. A total of 18 pages had 4 bills each and 10 pages had 3 bills each printed on them. The water had caused the ink to start to run and fade but the images were still readable.

Inside the residence in the laundry room, deputies located the washing machine. Inside the washing machine were a total of 32 single $5 dollar bills which were obviously counterfeit. The bills were multiple copies of 4 different bills.

Crime Scene arrived on scene and photographed and documented the recovery of the items. Crime Scene took possession of the bills and placed them into evidence. The pages were collected, separated, and placed to dry to preserve the evidence.

The Secret Service was contacted in reference to this case. Deputies spoke with an Agent  and they advised that  possession of 10 or more counterfeit bills was a felony.  Deputies arrested Mr Tyrell Lindsey for Possession of Counterfeit Bills , and his bond was set at $7500. He was transported to the Santa Rosa County Jail. The Secret Service will be following up on this case to see if more charges will be filed.