[PHOTO CREDIT: iStock / wabeno]
[Original Publish Date: 02/21/20]
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TAVARES, Florida — A homeless man attempted to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at a local restaurant Saturday after getting away with it 2019, but this time the fake bill ended in a real trip to jail.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and Tavares Police responded to Taco Time, 15200 Old U.S. Highway 441, Tavares on a report of a man who paid a $14.98 bill with a counterfeit $100 bill. The owner told the deputy the same man had bought a $1 soda with a counterfeit $100 bill and received $99 in change in the later part of 2019, but he did not report that incident.
According to an arrest affidavit, the waitress told a deputy William Joseph Broccolo, 41, handed her an “obvious” counterfeit $100 bill. She used a counterfeit marker to confirm her suspicions and then told the store owner. The waitress recorded Broccolo on her phone and told him the store owner needed to make change for the large bill. On the video, Broccolo is heard mumbling an expletive and telling her to keep the change, according to the affidavit.
Broccolo was charged with uttering counterfeit U.S. currency. He is being held at the Lake County Jail on $5,000 bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
