Lehigh woman arrested for paying dollar store with counterfeit money

Laura Jo Hardin, 50, Lehigh, was charged August 1 with misdemeanor uttering a forged instrument after she was arrested for paying for items at Family Dollar Store in Coalgate with a counterfeit $100 bill. Coalgate Police Officer Hoe Nguyen was dispatched to Family Dollar the evening of July 29 regarding the counterfeit bill. Upon arriving at the store, Nguyen met with the reporting clerk who showed him the surveillance footage of the incident. The video showed a female later identified as Laura Har- din making a purchase using a $100 bill. The cashier inspected the bill multiple times before accepting it as payment for Hardin’s purchases, which totaled $42.22, and Hardin was then given $57.78 in change. Hardin told the cashier that she received the money from her boyfriend. The clerk told Nguyen that the female suspect frequently comes to the store late at night to buy groceries and is often seen walking around the area. Nguyen returned to the store the following day and collected voluntary statements from the store manager that the clerk and cashier had furnished her. When he showed her a picture of a female identified as Hardin, the manager positively identified Laura Hardin as the suspect.