BROOKINGS – A man staying in Brookings has been arrested in connection with a spate of counterfeit $20 bills being passed at businesses in Brookings and Volga.
Julian Huffman, 27, was taken into custody on Monday after leaving a residence in the 400 block of 15th Street South, according to Detective Adam Smith in a news release from the Brookings Police Department. He added that observant residents previously helped identify Huffman, whose arrest came a short time after he fled from approaching officers.
Smith wrote that Huffman was arrested on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, possession of an altered check and an outstanding federal arrest warrant for a federal probation violation for accessory to bank robbery in Nebraska.
The U.S. Secret Service is assisting with the investigation, Smith said, adding that Huffman admitted during an interview to counterfeiting and passing approximately thirty $20 bills. A search warrant was executed at the residence where Hoffman was staying, and counterfeit money and manufacturing supplies were located.
Smith wrote that the U.S. Secret Service will be presenting the case to the U.S. attorney’s office for federal charges of making and passing counterfeit bills, of which officers have so far recovered 28 of the 30 fake $20 bills.
The newest developments in the case come following weeks of reports of counterfeit $20 bills to not only the BPD, but the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office as well.
Huffman is currently in the Brookings County Detention Center on a $2,500 cash bond from his local charges and no bond on his federal warrant, according to information from Smith.
