The first time, he got away with it. The second time, he got away with it. Somehow, the third time, he got away with it. But for one Carteret man, the fourth time he tried to make a purchase using a counterfeit $100 bill was the end of the road as investigators were already onto him — and were able to haul him into custody at a Lyndhurst store, Det. Lt. Vincent Auteri, the public-information officer of the Lyndhurst Police Department, said.
Shawn Beeks, 49, of Carteret, has been charged with forgery, theft by unlawful taking and possession of heroin. The forgery and theft charges stem from three separate incidents where Beeks passed a counterfeit $100 bill at a business on the 500 block of New York Avenue.
In the first incident, on Oct. 17, 2024, Beeks successfully purchased $13.29 worth of items using a counterfeit bill.
Then, on Oct. 19, Beeks successfully purchased $9.37 worth of items using yet another counterfeit $100 bill.
On Oct. 27, Beeks successfully purchased $19.54 worth of items using a third counterfeit $100 bill.
Now, at first, the business did not recognize the bills were counterfeit. But these transactions were ultimately reported to the Lyndhurst PD’s Criminal Investigations Division. Based upon a review of store surveillance video, and using other investigative measures, Det. Michael Giangeruso identified the suspect as Beeks. Beeks was also determined to have had outstanding warrants out of Newark and East Orange for similar crimes.
On Oct. 31, 2024, Beeks returned a fourth time to the same business and was immediately identified by store loss-prevention officers based on Det. Giangeruso’s information.
The Lyndhurst Police Department was immediately contacted. The responding officers located Beeks inside the store and subsequently placed him under arrest. At that time, Beeks was found to be in possession of a counterfeit $100 bill and a counterfeit $20 bill, in addition to a small amount of heroin.
Beeks was transported to the Lyndhurst Police Department where he was charged with three counts of forgery, three counts of theft by unlawful taking and possession of heroin before being remanded to the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack.
Additional charges are pending.
Members of the public may protect themselves against falling victim to counterfeit bills by learning about different security features on US currency by visiting www.uscurrency.gov.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.