A California woman was placed on two years unsupervised probation for pleading guilty to charges in connection with an August 2019 counterfeiting case in Jefferson City.
During a hearing before Cole County Judge Dan Green, Jessica Taylor, 28, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counterfeiting and resisting a lawful detention. As part of her probation, she must complete 100 hours of community service. A felony forgery charge was dismissed by prosecutors.
A Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement states officers were dispatched to Sonic on Ellis Boulevard for a report of a counterfeit $20 bill.
An officer examined the bill, which had "Motion Picture Purposes" on it.
Taylor was in the drive-thru window area and claimed she didn't know the bill was counterfeit. She allowed officers to go through her wallet, where they found nine more counterfeit $20 bills.
An officer told Taylor to pull into one of the ordering stalls at the restaurant, but instead, she sped away from the business.
Taylor went a short distance from Sonic and got out of her vehicle, fleeing into a wooded area. Officers set up a perimeter and a K-9 unit was brought in, but Taylor could not be found.
A few hours later, a resident reported in the 1000 block of Cimarron Drive that a female matching Taylor's description had come to his residence to use the phone, saying she had a flat tire.
Officers arrived and took Taylor into custody. They later questioned her, and she said someone had taken her real money and replaced it with counterfeit money.