Woman Investigated In Connection With Passing Fake Bills In Marin

NORTH BAY, CA — Petaluma police and the Marin County Sheriff's Office are investigating whether an El Dorado County woman suspected of passing counterfeit $100 bills in Petaluma may also be responsible for passing $2,400 in counterfeit money at a grocery store in Marin County.

Amber Rose Cook, 41, remained behind bars Tuesday in Sonoma County following her arrest last week on suspicion of passing counterfeit $100 bills at a Safeway store in Petaluma, according to the Petaluma Police Department.

Cook, 41, of Somerset, was taken into custody Thursday, Jan. 16, not long after police received a report that at 2:06 a.m., a woman used fake $100 bills to purchase a $500 prepaid Visa gift card at Safeway in the Washington Square Shopping Center on South McDowell Boulevard, police said.

Employees at the same store reported that at 4:17 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, a suspect matching Cook's description used counterfeit $100 bills to buy a $400 prepaid Visa gift card, Petaluma police said.

Further, police said, at 4:31 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, employees at a CVS store within a half-mile of the Safeway reported that a woman tried to use a counterfeit $100 bill to buy merchandise.

The difference Thursday was that a store employee gave police a description of the suspect's car as well as information about which way the car went.

An officer who responded to the area soon found the car and stopped it; after a store employee identified Cook as the person who passed the counterfeit money, she was placed under arrest, according to police.

Then, during the booking process at Sonoma County Jail, suspected narcotics were found hidden in Cook's bra, police said.

Cook remained behind bars Tuesday in lieu of $10,000 bail, with bringing drugs into a California jail or prison listed among her arrest charges. Sonoma County jail records show Cook, who is due in court Friday morning, was also booked on suspicion of being drunk in public and driving on a suspended license.

As for the charges surrounding counterfeit money, Petaluma police are working alongside the Marin County Sheriff's Office because a similar incident occurred Jan. 10 at Safeway in Mill Valley when $2,400 in counterfeit money was reportedly passed.

Any law enforcement agencies or businesses who've experienced similar incidents are asked to call the Petaluma Police Department at 707-778-4372.

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