In brief: Fake $100 bills lead to arrests of two teens

Two Cheney teenagers who tried to buy turtle food with a fake $100 bill could face federal charges after an investigation turned up what appears to be a counterfeiting ring, according to authorities.

Sonnie Antaraliclaude Woods Jr. and Miranda Frances Smith, both 19, were arrested Sunday afternoon at Evergreen Pets, 14319 E. Sprague Ave., after being interviewed by a Spokane Valley police officer and a U.S. Treasury Department investigator.

Investigators recovered the fake bill from a pet store employee and learned of two other bills passed at a Dairy Queen and Dollar Store that also were recovered, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department. Three more bills allegedly were found in the pair’s car, according to police, and the two reportedly told police Woods had obtained 35 fake $100 bills and paid Smith $20 for each bill she laundered.

Serial numbers on the bills matched hundreds of other counterfeit bills passed in Spokane and Antioch, Calif., police said.

Woods was in custody Tuesday at Geiger Corrections Center. Smith was released Monday, jail records show.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Lincoln County

Police say man lied about own shooting

A 22-year-old Reardan man is facing felony charges after shooting himself in the foot Friday and then allegedly lying to authorities about how it happened, according to authorities.

Chase Catelli went to a Davenport, Wash., hospital about 6 p.m. for a gunshot wound to his foot and told Lincoln County authorities that another man had accidentally shot him, the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Catelli said he had been fishing in the Rock Lake area in Whitman County with his girlfriend when they met three men shooting handguns.

Catelli said one of the men was lowering a gun when it went off accidentally.

Deputies determined Catelli shot himself in the foot and lied because he didn’t know if he could legally possess a firearm, authorities said.

Catelli faces second-degree perjury charges in Whitman County and may face others in Lincoln County, authorities said.

Sara Leaming