A young man who used a counterfeit $100 bill to buy three boxes of Girl Scout cookies at a South Pasadena grocery store was the subject of an investigation Friday.
Police distributed three surveillance images of the individual, described as an 18-year-old African-American man, in a crime bulletin on Thursday.
He was seen on Feb. 27 about 5:30 p.m. entering a Vons in the 1100 block of Fair Oaks Avenue (map), where he tried to purchase detergent with a $100 bill. When employees recognized the bill to be counterfeit, the man left.
Just outside the supermarket entrance was a table where Girl Scouts were selling cookies. The man approached, purchased three boxes and fled with the change.
The Girl Scout leader later realized the $100 bill was fake, according to the South Pasadena Police Department crime bulletin.
In a statement, the leader said she was extremely disappointed by the incident.
A spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Great Los Angeles said the crime takes away from the annual cookie sales effort that funds programs for girls and projects in the community.
“We are appalled that anyone would use counterfeit money to steal from a Girl Scout,” said Carol Dedrich, chief external relations officer for the local branch. “This incident puts a fine point on the relevancy of Girl Scouts and programs like it that teach values, principles, and ethics.”
The thief was described as 5 foot 6 inches to 5 foot 7 inches tall, 130 pounds, and wearing blue jeans, dark shoes with white laces and a white sweatshirt jacket labeled “Hilfiger” on the front.
Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at 626-403-7280.