Police Chief Joe Treviño is warning local cashiers and business owners to look out for counterfeit $5 and $10 bills.

Treviño and Detective Lt. Rene Guerrero said Thursday that the Beeville Police Department has been contacted four times in the last month about phony bills that had been accepted by local businesses.

Treviño said businesses in the city use special pens to detect a counterfeit bill by marking the paper on which the bill is printed. The marker will leave a yellow line on a legal bill but the line will show up as either a brown or black line if the bill is bogus.

“People usually use the markers on $20 bills, $50 bills and hundreds,” Treviño said. “I believe they are making them (counterfeit bills) in small denominations because people won’t check them with the marking pens.”

“We’d just like to warn businesses to check five and tens closer and if they look suspicious to call us immediately,” Treviño said.

“Try to keep the person there if possible but if they leave, try to get a description of the person, the vehicle the person is driving and a license plate number,” he said.

There are a number of things a cashier can look for to determine is a bill is bogus. The counterfeit bills are printed on paper that is slightly off color and it feels different from one printed on government paper. Also, the counterfeit bills the department has taken as evidence do not have a visible water mark on the right side of the bill that is visible when held up to the light.

The ink on one of the phony fives also was smeared where something moist obviously came in contact with the ink.

In another incident, Treviño asked that anyone who might know who broke a skylight window at A.C. Jones High School on Tuesday night or early Wednesday contact the BPD at 358-8100 or the Bee County Crime Stoppers organization at 362-0206.

A tip to the Crime Stoppers organization here will guarantee that the caller remains anonymous and the caller may qualify for a reward of up to $1,000 if the information leads to an arrest and a grand jury indictment of a suspect.

A 56-year-old maintenance supervisor for the Beeville Independent School District met with Patrolman Jonell Cisneros on Wednesday at the school at 1902 N. Adams St. after he learned of the damage.

Cisneros said two metal pipes were found on the roof of the building next to the broken skylight.

The supervisor said it would cost the school $2,500 to replace the broken skylight.