Counterfeit $100 Bill Leads Police to Recovered Stolen Vehicle

SAN ANGELO, TX –San Angelo Police officers were dispatched to Aladdin's Flooring for the report of a stolen vehicle on Feb. 21.

According to court documents, once on scene officers learned that the owner parked one of his work trucks in the rear parking lot of his business and left the keys in the floorboard while he went inside to finish some work. He went back outside a few hours later and found his work truck had been stolen. He immediately called police and reported the 2006 Chevrolet Silverado stolen. 

Without a physical description of the suspect, officers attempted to locate the stolen vehicle. Investigators entered the stolen vehicle into TCIC/NCIC,  a database that helps law enforcement track and locate stolen property, and continued their investigation. Five days later on Feb. 26 officers were alerted to an unidentified male subject who attempted to use a counterfeit $100 bill in the Drive-Thru of Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory on Knickerbocker Rd. in San Angelo.

Reports state that the vehicle immediately drove off headed northbound onto Johnson St. and after a short pursuit officers were able to perform a traffic stop on the white Chevrolet pickup. Authorities identified the driver as 23-year-old Ray Fuentes who attempted to use the counterfeit currency previously at Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory. When officers ran the vehicle's registration they also learned that it was the same truck that was reported stolen earlier that week.

Fuentes was arrested and charged with Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle which carries a penalty of six months up to two years in prison and a fine not to exceed $10,000.00.

Fuentes eventually admitted in a voluntary statement that on Feb. 21 he walked into Aladdin's Flooring  to ask about a job, but saw no one. He then walked to the back of the building where he found the unoccupied white Chevrolet. After noticing the truck was unlocked with the keys inside he decided to hop in and drive off.

Fuentes is currently in Tom Green County Jail on the charges of Theft Class C, Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, and Possession of a Controlled Substance with a bond of $26,046.00.