KALKASKA COUNTY - The Kalkaska County Sheriff’s Office said Friday, Jan. 17 that two people have been arrested for passing counterfeit currency and leading law enforcement on a multi-county chase.
On Thursday, Jan. 16, around 7 p.m., Antrim County officials told Kalkaska Dispatch to be on the lookout for a rental car with Colorado registration that they said had been involved in the passing of counterfeit currency in Antrim County.
The occupants were wanted for multiple incidents in Antrim County as well as in Cheboygan and Gaylord, officials said.
Kalkaska County deputies said they located the suspect vehicle, occupied by a 25-year-old male and a 20-year-old female from Kalamazoo, on US-131 in the village of Kalkaska.
Deputies conducted a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle, which then fled from deputies at a high rate of speed south on US-131, officials said. Deputies pursued the suspects into Grand Traverse County.
Grand Traverse County law enforcement joined the pursuit, and the suspects crashed their vehicle on Rennie Lake Road at Ranch Rudolph Road in Grand Traverse County, officials said.
The female was taken into custody on scene, but the male fled on foot, officials said.
The Traverse Police Department K9 team conducted a search, and the male was caught about one mile away from the suspect vehicle, officials said.
It was later determined the suspects had passed a counterfeit $100 bill in the village of Kalkaska just before deputies located them, officials said.
The suspects were charged with flee and elude as well as passing counterfeit currency.
The Kalkaska Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Antrim County Sheriff’s Office, Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office and Traverse City Police Department.
The list of assisting agencies has been corrected.