Crackers weren't enough for the famished Poinsett County man about to be tried for rape.
Police said Travis Allen Rogers, 21, of Tyronza, told a sheriff's detective he was hungry during a recess in a pretrial hearing Monday at the Poinsett County Courthouse in Harrisburg. When the detective turned to get a package of crackers from a drawer in his office, Rogers grabbed a $20 bill stashed in a cup on the detective's desk, reports say.
What Rogers didn't know was the money was a counterfeit bill the detective used to train new deputies, said Lt. Justin Kimble of the Harrisburg Police Department.
Rogers, who will be tried in the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, left the courthouse during a lunch break and used the $20 to buy a 99-cent Sprite and hamburger at a nearby convenience store, Kimble said.
After Rogers left, the store clerk checked the bill with a marker and determined it was fake, the officer said. She called police and showed Kimble a store surveillance video of Rogers using the money, reports say.
Rogers also bought a telephone card from a store in Harrisburg, police said.
"It was a good counterfeit bill," Kimble said. "It looked real. The detective kept it to show deputies how good fake bills can look."
Kimble said he returned to the courthouse to find a deputy prosecutor to obtain a warrant for Rogers' arrest when he saw Rogers sitting on the front row in the courtroom.
When questioned, Rogers said he was given the bill by his father. Kimble called Rogers' father who said that wasn't the case.
Rogers then said a friend had given it to him instead.
Kimble took Rogers to the county jail and the detective saw the two together. When Kimble showed the detective the fake bill Rogers passed at the convenience store, the detective recognized it as his.
It was an hour between the time when police said Rogers took the $20 bill and when he was arrested.
"It's unbelievable," Kimble said of the quick resolution of the case. "That never happens like that."
Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington complimented Kimble on the speedy police work.
"It was good work," he said. "The defendant made some poor choices."
Poinsett County District Judge Ron Hunger charged Rogers with theft, forgery for passing the fake bill and obstruction of governmental operations for misleading Kimble's investigation. He ordered Rogers held in the Poinsett County jail in Harrisburg on a $25,000 bond. His next court appearance is Sept. 25.
Rogers is also due back in court Sept. 5 on his rape charge.
State Desk on 08/25/2017