GREENWOOD — Two local people were arrested Wednesday on aggravated forgery charges following a joint investigation between the Mexico and Skowhegan Police Departments, Mexico Police Chief Roy Hodsdon said.

Stefan McIntyre, 26, and Chani Greiner, 31, both of Howe Hill Road, Greenwood, were arrested on Class B aggravated forgery charges.

Hodsdon said he received a complaint from the Mexico Wal-Mart on Sunday that a male and female had exchanged counterfeit money for merchandise.

“The male spent $300 on electrical equipment, while the female spent $80 on consumable food products,” Hodsdon said. “Both sets of counterfeit money had the same serial numbers.”

Upon reviewing the video footage of the male and female, Hodsdon said police were unable to determine their identities.

However, on Wednesday, Hodsdon said, he received a phone call from the Skowhegan Police Department, which said the same male subject identified in the Mexico Wal-Mart had entered the Skowhegan Wal-Mart and spent $300 of the same type of counterfeit money on electrical equipment.

“We reviewed our video footage, compared it with theirs, and discovered that it was the same male,” Hodsdon said.

He added that the Skowhegan Police Department quickly called back to report that the male had returned to the store, returned the electrical equipment he had fraudulently purchased and attempted to purchase similar electrical equipment with more counterfeit money.

The male, later identified as McIntyre, was arrested by Skowhegan police.

Police then identified the Subaru that McIntyre was driving as belonging to Greiner.

The Mexico police, with the assistance of Skowhegan police, applied for a search warrant at McIntyre and Greiner’s Howe Hill Road residence in Greenwood.

Hodsdon said that the officers found Greiner at the residence, and subsequently arrested her on aggravated forgery charges.

While investigating, Hodsdon said police found more counterfeit bills, a large amount of marijuana, crack cocaine, $4,300 in legitimate cash, an assault rifle and “other drug-related paraphernalia.”

Since Greenwood was out of Mexico and Skowhegan’s jurisdiction, Hodsdon said the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, applied for a second search warrant to seize the drug-related paraphernalia.

Hodsdon lauded the “great collaborative effort between Skowhegan and Mexico that led to us arresting the Greenwood residents.”

“It was really nice for them to come up and help with the search warrant,” Hodsdon said. “There were nine officers total, and we were able to close the case very fast.”

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net