Two men were arrested Thursday for trying to use counterfeit identification at the Verizon store, at 1530 E. Wooster St., Bowling Green. The men were reportedly trying to open an account with a fake Michigan identification card.
Xavier Lamar Paul, 20, of Toledo, and Terrell Herman Ford, 24, of Lima, were charged with counterfeiting and tampering with records.
Staff at the Verizon store called Bowling Green Police Division when Paul, who is black, reportedly provided an ID belonging to a white man from Canton, Michigan.
According to the police report, the Verizon employees said they were suspicious of Paul and his passenger because they backed their Volvo into a parking spot, and entered the store minutes apart. They said this was similar behavior to other subjects who had attempted to scam them.
One employee said that when Paul provided his ID she realized it was counterfeit because it was flimsy. She then reportedly used Facebook to look him up – and the person in the store did not match the person in the Facebook account.
Police reportedly found the men had multiple counterfeit credit and gift cards. A search of their vehicle reportedly found a magnetic strip reader in the center console. An officer reported seeing numerous receipts in the car.
