In NY, Man Offers Fake Money for Bond

Cyheam Forney had just dropped off his girlfriend at work in Melville when he made an illegal left turn in front of a Suffolk County police sergeant. And that was only the start of his troubles Thursday evening, police said Friday.

Forney was pulled over into the Estée Lauder parking lot on Pinelawn Road by Sgt. Daniel Lynch. Three young children, a boy and two girls, were asleep in the 2006 Nissan, Lynch said.

Forney was apologetic and explained that he was on his way home to baby-sit the children, one of which was his, and the other two his girlfriend's.

When Lynch asked for a license, Forney said he didn't have one. He had no other identification on him, either.

Forney told the sergeant his name, and Lynch ran it through Department of Motor Vehicle records on his computer. Turns out, Forney's license had been suspended 35 times, police said.

"I'm sorry," Lynch recalled Forney stating. "Well, we have to take care of this," Lynch replied. They made arrangements for the children's care and went to the Second Precinct in Huntington.

There, Forney was issued summonses for the illegal turn, too-dark-tinted windows, unlicensed operation and substandard tires. He was offered $500 bail.

But when he handed over his cash, police noticed one of the bills looked fake. Forney admitted it was counterfeit, police say.

"He said some guy gave it to him when he was playing dice the night before," Lynch said.

Forney, 31, of Wyandanch, was arraigned Friday in First District Court in Central Islip and held on $5,000 for felony possession of a forged instrument and $2,500 for the motor vehicle offenses. No one answered the phone at his address.