A restaurant employee in Ruston was arrested last week after she allegedly took $100 from a cash box and replaced it with a counterfeit $100 bill.
Ashlei Nicole Barnes, 29, of Ruston was caught on surveillance video taking a $100 bill from a money drop box and replacing it with a counterfeit bill at the Cooktown Road Waffle House Feb. 14.
According to an officer’s report, the manager said she thought another employee had taken the fake bill from a customer by mistake before verifying Barnes made the switch.
Barnes allegedly told another employee she knew she was going to get arrested and was not coming to work. Police attempted to locate Barnes at her residence without success. Barnes later went to the Ruston Police Department and confessed to switching the fake bill for a real one.
Police said the manager wished to pursue a felony monetary instrument abuse charge rather than misdemeanor theft since Barnes did not return the money.
Barnes was booked into the Lincoln Parish Detention Center with bail set at $2,500.
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