Girl Jailed After Using ‘Counterfeit’ Lunch Money Until They Take a Closer Look at the Bill...

#1 She Sent Police On A Mad Search

A Texas middle school student had landed herself sitting handcuffed and in a jail cell all afternoon while she sent police on a search for something she inadvertently started during lunch.

#2 She Wanted Chicken Nuggets

Danesiah Neal was trying to pay for her lunch like any other day at school. However, she was singled out and reprimanded. The reason? She attempted to pay for her chicken nuggets with a $2 bill. The lunch cashier thought the bill Danesiah had handed her was a counterfeit.

#3 Police Called In From Several Units

The school police were called in to figure out whether or not the bill was real or fake, and before long city officials were called in to take over as they went on a wild search for the source of the 'fake' bill.

#4 Rare $2.00 Bill

After determining that they yet another case of counterfeiting on their hands, they placed 13-year-old Danesiah in the back of the police car and hauled her to jail while they investigated. Everyone assumed that the bill was fake, due to the fact that the $2 bill is a rare denomination of currency and this particular iteration was older than average, dating back to 1953.

#5 Issued By Local Bank

They started by questioning the girls grandmother, Sharon Kay Joseph, who maintained that the bill was indeed the real thing. She said the police told her it was a fake and insisted she reveal where she had received it from. That led them to a nearby convenience store and then to the bank where they had been given the bill. The bank then verified that because of its age, the counterfeit pen would not work on the bill, which was, indeed, real US currency.

#6 Making A Mountain Out Of A Mole Hill

Miss Joseph was a little upset at the way her granddaughter was treated over the situation, saying "It was very outrageous for them to do it. There was no need for police involvement. They're charging kids like they're adults now." Of course, the family was absolved when the money was found to be real, but the damage had been done. Danesiah never got to eat her lunch and was embarrassed in front of her classmates, and had to endure an afternoon in a locked jail cell. "They are treating kids like criminals," Joseph added.

#7 Counterfeiting Allegations Are Not Rare In Houston

According to reports, there had been dozens of cases in the Houston, Texas school district previously involving students allegedly trying to pass off counterfeit money at lunch. During the 2013-2014 school year alone, there were 40 Houston students investigated for using counterfeit money. The issue with this is that most of the cases involved African-American children or Hispanic, and no white students had been investigated.

#8 Two Actual Fake Bills Found In 3 Years

While only two of the cases previous to the one involving Danesiah Neal were found to be legitimate, one 13-year-old boy who had top grades and had never been in any trouble was issued with a felony and sent to an alternative school even though his parents and bank officials claim the bill looked real and they may have possibly passed it on to the family. The other case involves a 17-year-old African-American student who is facing adult time in an adult prison for the same offense even though the #10 bill was traced back to a gang and had made its way through the banking system for almost 6 months.

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