Assault Leads Campbell PD to Counterfeiting Operation

When officers arrived at a San Jose home Thursday, they were looking for a man involved in an assault in town earlier this week.

Instead of finding him, officers found Janielle Burton, 25, of San Jose, with .2 grams of methamphetamine, meth pipes and what appeared to be a counterfeiting printer.

"Police found a setup where they were trying to make counterfeit $20 bills," says Campbell police Capt. Dave Carmichael.

The bills were also found in Burton's possession, who was the only person arrested in the case thus far.

"We took it in as evidence and notified secret service," Carmichael says. "At this point, we are not sure if it's a large-scale operation or a relatively small counterfeiting ring. (Secret service) are in charge of follow up. They will check to see if these serial numbers are in circulation."

Campbell police are still searching for the original suspect in the assault case.

Counterfeit investigations are not uncommon, Carmichael says. The department investigates about a dozen every year.

Usually, police are notified of counterfeit currency when someone tries to use it in a transaction.

"It's satisfying to catch them before that happened," he says. "It's nice to get that off the street."