LAKEVIEW — A man who used counterfeit money at a Lakeview bar Wednesday also had a gun, weed and a white powder suspected to be cocaine on him, police said.
The man, who was at Will's Northwoods Inn, 3030 N. Racine Ave., with three other friends, immediately said, "I have weed," when police showed up to investigate the counterfeit money, according to Town Hall Police Cmdr. Elias Voulgaris and the bar's manager Kevin Kruse.
Police also found a shotgun and rifle in the man's car, Voulgaris said. The man, a convicted felon who gave a home address in Sun Prairie, Wis., will be receiving felony charges, Voulgaris said.
Kruse called police after the man tried to pay for drinks with a counterfeit $20 bill, he said. The man claimed that the money came from the bar itself, but another employee said she did not give the man or his friends any $20 bills.
Police arrived and found the drugs and a semi-automatic pistol on the man, but no problems occurred before the counterfeit money use, Kruse said.
The man did not display his gun in the bar, Voulgaris said.
In fact, the men, all who seemed to be in their mid-20s, were friendly and polite the few hours they were there, Kruse said. They arrived at the neighborhood bar around 1 p.m. and watched the Capital One Bowl along with the many other Wisconsin fans, he said.
"They were extremely calm," Kruse said. "Nice disposition; very nice people. They were very quiet. Even when the police arrived, they admitted what they had, turned around and put their hands on their backs.
"It goes to show, you never know about people."
The counterfeit money was turned over to the U.S. Secret Service, Voulgaris said. The man's court date is on January 8th.
People looking to carry guns in public need to special licenses, which cannot be applied for until January 5. While carrying concealed weapons is now legal in Illinois, gun owners are banned from having them in establisments that derive more than 50 percent of their income from alcohol, such as bars.
