Man Tries to Buy Item with Play Money

This is not green

​We knew the economy was depressing, but not bad enough to steal toy money.

Police are looking for a man who ripped off a local retailer when he stole play money from the store -- and then tried to use it to buy something.

At about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the man came into a shop on the unit block of Leland Avenue in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood and browsed for a while. He left and then came back a few minutes later, yet still didn't buy anything, according to police.
The man left again and -- already drawing suspicion --  he returned to the store a third time to try to buy something.  He walked up to the cashier and pulled out what the police report describes as "play money." 

Obviously, the employee had to tell him that his money was no good there, and the suspect left with the toy money in his pocket. After he left, the employee realized the fake money had been part of a display in the store, according to police.

These are desperate times.

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