Woman gives $100 to Girl Scouts after cookie thief pays with fake bill; similar crimes being investigated

A Good Samaritan donated $100 to a Girl Scout and her troop about an hour after a man paid for cookies with a fake $100 bill Sunday evening in Costa Mesa, the Scout’s mother said Thursday.

As Laura Archer and her 9-year-old daughter, Launa, were waiting for police outside the Stater Bros. supermarket at 2180 Newport Blvd., Archer told a woman who approached that a man had just paid for $25 worth of cookies with a counterfeit $100 bill.

“She left and came back with a $100 bill and insisted we keep it,” said Archer, who lives in Costa Mesa. “She said she didn’t want my daughter to have a bad Girl Scout experience and felt really bad. I was totally in awe and so appreciative. I had tears in my eyes and thought it was so amazing that my daughter faced how ugly people can be to how wonderful they can be.”

Archer said she did not immediately realize the man’s cash was counterfeit when he bought the cookies around 7 p.m. and she gave him $75 in change. She said she called police an hour later after realizing the bill was counterfeit.

She said she remembers the man was white, in his late 30s or early 40s, with light brown hair and a medium build. He was wearing jeans and a blue long-sleeved shirt.

She said she viewed surveillance footage from the store and pointed out the man to police.

A few days later, as Archer was eating at Dick Church’s Restaurant at 2698 Newport Blvd. in Costa Mesa, she told her waitress what had happened and the waitress told her about a similar incident at the restaurant.

Waitress Melissa Stephenson said a man who matched the description Archer gave visited the restaurant last week and paid for $20 worth of food with a fraudulent $100 bill.

She said she plans to file a police report and view surveillance videos taken at Stater Bros.

Costa Mesa police said a similar incident happened at the same Stater Bros. on Feb. 18 when a woman paid for $30 worth of Girl Scout cookies with a fake $50 bill.

The troop didn’t realize until later that the bill was phony, police Sgt. Matt Grimmond said.

The woman was described as white, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9, with blond hair and a small white dog, Grimmond said.

Police believe the incidents are related. No suspects have been identified.

“This type of thing has been going around a lot, and it’s kind of a big thing,” Grimmond said.

Archer said she hopes police find the man who cheated her daughter.

“It’s pretty low when someone rips off a 9-year-old girl for cookies,” she said.