CHEYENNE L. PALEN
WESTFIELD – City police have arrested two flamboyant Connecticut residents who drove a white Maserati car to a number of city retailers where they made small purchases with $20 bills – all of which had the same serial number.
In a court document, Officer Scott Schuster reports that the couple apparently made their first visit to Westfield on Sunday, making small purchases without immediate detection at an Elm Street gas station with four counterfeit $20 bills bearing the same serial number.
Schuster reports that the investigation of that incident identified the car they were driving, a 2018 Maserati Ghibli. A brief internet search showed listed prices for that model Maserati range between $84,000 and $96,000.
Descriptions and video images of the female suspect showed her to be a strikingly attractive woman with distinctive blond hair.
JASON SANTOS
The duo returned to the city on Tuesday and again appear to have made no effort to keep a low profile, driving the same eye-catching car (which they parked in a ‘No Parking’ zone) with the flamboyant woman wearing the same clothing seen in the security video.
Det. Anthony Tsatsos, while off duty, spotted the distinctive car and the suspects on East Main Street at the Westfield Shops Tuesday afternoon. Officer Bryan Turgeon responded and reports the Maserati was found parked in a fire lane posted “No parking” near a video game store.
Tsatsos found that the male suspect had spent a $20 bill – with the familiar serial number – to buy a $4 video game.
Responding detectives Brian Freeman and Michael Cekovsky found that the suspects had entered a nearby drug store where they separated and each made small purchases with counterfeit $20 bills.
Schuster wrote that, when he arrived, he “immediately recognized the defendant as she was wearing the same clothes from the security camera images”.
The suspects were taken into custody and identified as Jason Santos, 35, of 653B Osage Lane, Stratford, Conn., and Cheyenne Lynn Palen, 19, of 41 Lakeview Terrace, Derby, Connecticut.
Schuster reports “it is the collective opinion of all the investigators involved that Santos and Palen were purposely passing counterfeit $20 bills for low priced items in order to receive real money as change.”
They were arrested and found to be in possession of additional counterfeit $20 bills.
On Wednesday, both defendants (both listed at the Derby address) were each arraigned in Westfield District Court before Judge William O’Grady on a charge of possession of ten or more counterfeit notes, four charges of uttering a counterfeit note and four charges of larceny of property valued less than $1,200.
Santos was held in lieu of $20,000 cash bail and Palen was held in lieu of $2,500 cash bail. Both are scheduled for pre-trial hearings on Aug. 10.
The Maserati (which was apparently rented as it was reported to be owned by a Tulsa, Okla., limited liability corporation) was towed to the police impound yard.
