A Houston middle school student was investigated for forgery after trying to use a $2 bill to pay for lunch.Danesiah Neal, 14, is an eighth grader at Christa McAuliffe Middle School, ABC Eyewitness News reported. She was recently investigated by police after school officials accused her of using fake money to buy lunch.
“I went to the lunch line, and they said my $2 bill was fake,” Neal, who was 13 at the time, told ABC Eyewitness News. “They gave it to the police. Then they sent me to the police office. A police officer said I could be in big trouble.”
Neal got the $2 bill from her grandmother, Sharon Kay Joseph. She received a phone call from school officials shortly after the incident.
“‘Did you give Danesiah a $2 bill for lunch?’” Joseph recalled being asked. “He told me it was fake.”
The investigation led Fort Bend ISD police to a local convenience store that reportedly gave the $2 bill to Joseph. Officers then visited a bank, where the 1953-issued bill was examined and determined to be real.
What is happening with law enforcement that we are charging kids with crimes, when they are trying to pay for lunch?
This isn’t the first time a student faced a felony investigation for an alleged lunch line forgery. During the 2013-2014 school year, 40 similar cases were reported from three Houston-area school districts, EAG News reported.
