SOUTH BRUNSWICK – Police have charged four people who were allegedly attempting to defraud area businesses.
At around 4:30 p.m. on April 25, police were called to the stores in Summerfield Plaza off Route 522 and alerted about a group attempting to cash a fraudulent $100 dollar bill at Stop & Shop, according to a statement released by the South Brunswick Police Department. Officers reportedly checked the area for the suspects but they had left, police said.
At 5:50 p.m. police were again called after a group reportedly attempted to use a $100 bill to pay for a $10 meal at Café Amici on Davidson Mill Road. An employee of the restaurant said the group had ordered food and fled when confronted that the money was fake, police said. The suspects allegedly walked out of Café Amici and warned another suspect who was in a nearby nail salon by saying, “Cinderella, it’s time to go.” All four suspects reportedly got into a brown Pontiac Grand Am and fled toward Route 130.
Detective Monica Shearer reportedly observed the suspects’ Pontiac driving on Georges Road and stopped the vehicle on Route 522, police said. An investigation determined that Clifton Ownes, 35, Kyle Silvas, 24, Brian Brown, 23, and a 17-year-old female, all from Trenton, had allegedly been passing fraudulent money, according to reports.
Brown was charged with forgery and theft of services. All the remaining suspects were charged with conspiracy to commit a crime. All were released pending their first court appearances.
Police are looking into if the group had committed similar frauds in the area.
