Real money, false arrest: Tenn. cops thought $50 bill was counterfeit

(CBS/AP) SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - A customer at a Shelbyville, Tenn. convenience store was arrested recently when he tried to use a real $50 bill...but the store owner wasn't buying it.

Police came along and arrested the man, Lorenzo Gaspar, on Friday, but now they're saying 'sorry.'

The Shelbyville Times-Gazette reported police thought the bill was counterfeit after a store clerk called them, saying a marker used to detect phony money didn't show the bill was real.

But a police evidence technician told the arresting officer that some old bills don't react to the markers. So police gave the half-a-c-note to two banks to check, and they determined it was real, alright - just very old.

Mr. Gaspar was released from jail and he received an apology from the police - although apparently no cash reward for his inconvenience at the convenience store.