A photograph posted on the Hartford Police Department's Facebook page shows one of the counterfeit bills confiscated. (Courtesy Hartford Police)
A photograph posted on the Hartford Police Department's Facebook page shows one of the counterfeit bills confiscated. (Courtesy Hartford Police) Credit: —

Woodstock — Two New York men were arrested Wednesday afternoon after allegedly passing a counterfeit $100 bill at a Woodstock business and trying to do the same elsewhere in other businesses, police said.

Steven Medina, 23, and Jeffrey Medina, 24, of the Bronx, N.Y., were stopped near Mac’s Market around 2:30 p.m. after a merchant told police they had passed a counterfeit $100 bill in the store, a Woodstock police news release said.

Police said the men had entered five Woodstock businesses and “allegedly passed or attempted to pass counterfeit $100 bills by making a purchase of a small, inexpensive item, and then pretending to have only a $100 bill.”

Several of the merchants refused to accept the bills, police said. Police said the men are under investigation for similar purchases in Hartford, Lebanon and Bellows Falls, Vt.

The Medinas pleaded not guilty to counterfeiting charges this afternoon and were ordered held on $25,000 bail, according to court records.

Posted at 12:55 p.m. Updated at 7:15 p.m. For a full report, see Friday’s Valley News.