If Maurion Hulett makes bail by check or cash, police in Thurston, Wash., will be paying attention.

After the 28-year-old Seattle man was arrested for trying to cash a forged check, he tried to pay his booking fee with a fake $20 bill.

Captain Dan Kimball of the Thurston County Sheriff's Department said employees at a check-cashing counter at the Lucky Eagle Casino became suspicious when Hulett and another cohort, Steven Faucett, 21, tried to cash two paychecks Oct. 14. Kimball said that although both checks listed the same business, their appearances were completely different. Employees could also tell that one of the checks had been printed from a computer.

Casino security contacted police, who took the two men into custody for forgery charges.

Both men were asked to pay a $100 booking fee at the county jail, Kimball said. Hulett claimed to have only $20 and presented a single bill to the clerk, who scanned the money with a device that determined the note was a fake.

Faced with the possibility of an additional counterfeiting charge, the alleged forger denied knowing the money was phony.

"He told us he did a drug deal and the money was the change the drug dealer gave back to him," Kimball said.

Both men were charged with forgery and are being held at the Thurston County Jail. Prosecutors will determine whether Hulett will face an additional charge for the fake bill.

Three home burglars who were worried about a talkative parrot giving away their identities to authorities decided to add the bird to their stolen loot.

Although Memphis Police foiled the trio's getaway attempt, the would-be stool pigeon escaped and is still on the lam.

According to police spokesperson Sergeant Vince Higgins, officers received a call from an eyewitness at 10:20 a.m. Oct. 25. The eyewitness said that three men had broken into a neighbor's apartment. The woman reported seeing suspects Mark Martin, Dallas David and Jarrin Hicks load their car with two televisions, a DVD player, a radio, an Xbox, a laptop and a caged parrot.

Police arrived at the scene just as the men were leaving. A brief high-speed chase ensued, but the men were apprehended when their vehicle crashed into a fence.

Although the kidnapped parrot, nicknamed Marshmallow, was unhurt during the melee, Higgins said its cage broke open and the bird escaped while officers arrested its captors.

One of the suspects told police that the bird talked uncontrollably during their heist. Although the bird's chatter was unrelated to the crime, the men became worried that the bird may have overheard them mention one suspect's nickname, "J.J."

"They thought the parrot would tell on them," Higgins said.

The men, ages 18 - 25, have been charged with burglary. Each is being held on $10,000 bond.

Michael Dwight McGee's lightbulb moment proved to be dim-witted.

The 40-year-old Michigan man was arrested Oct. 27, three weeks after he allegedly robbed a bank to pay off his overdue utilities bill.

Jackson County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Robert Cole said McGee went into Fifth Third Bank Oct. 5 and gave a teller a note demanding $1000. He wore sunglasses and a hat and indicated that he had a weapon. The teller gave McGee the money, and the thief fled.

Cole said the suspect left the hold-up note at the crime scene, and local police and the FBI were able to lift his finger prints and use them to track him down.

When McGee was apprehended, he told authorities that he decided to rob the bank because he needed money to pay a past-due utilities bill.

"He said when he woke up that morning, the energy company had shut off his heat and his kids were cold," Sgt. Cole said. "He went out looking for a job, but found himself in front of the bank. He wrote the holdup note in the parking lot."

After the robbery, McGee allegedly used the stolen money to pay off his $800 energy bill and have service restored to his home.

McGee is being held at the Jackson County Jail. He faces life imprisonment if found guilty of robbing the bank.

Stupid Crimes & Misdemeanors , a weekly feature of Courttv.com, is reported by Tinuola Awopetu

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