Waffle House Call Nets Arrests of Alleged Counterfeiters

A call from the Waffle House in Lavonia leads to a break in a metro Atlanta case of counterfeiting.

According to Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlisle, it happened last Sunday when officers received a call from an employee at the Waffle House about someone passing counterfeit bills.

“Upon arrival, the officers met with the two suspects and upon further investigation realized that they had stumbled onto a much larger counterfeit enterprise,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle said the pair were hitting Waffle Houses up and down the Interstate and trading their counterfeit $100 bills for food and change in real currency.

Inside the suspects’ vehicle the officers also uncovered items that turned out to be stolen.

“The investigation the items were taken from an Atlanta school sometime back,” Carlisle said. “Those items were taken into evidence as well. They had been entered into GCIC as stolen. We have been notified by several agencies between here and Atlanta seeking information on these individuals.”

The suspects are identified as 31-year old Isaac Alexander Tookes of Westminster Drive in Ellenwood, Georgia and 23-year old Alethia Malia Echols of Boat Rock Road in Atlanta.

Both are charged with numerous counts of forgery and are being held in the Franklin County Detention Center with holds on them for Gwinnett and other metro Atlanta counties.