When three teenagers bought a quarter-pound of marijuana with counterfeit money from a Boca Raton drug-dealer, two of them ended up shot and in critical condition, police said.
Once the drug dealer, Thomas Fenech, got the fake money he recognized it as counterfeit and fired multiple shots at them with an assault rifle at about 8:30 p.m. The incident happened in the 300 block of NW 19th Street, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
John Addison and Andrew Hernandez were wounded and are both still in critical condition at Delray Medical Center, while Tyler Doyle, the driver, suffered minor injuries, police said.
Fenech has a criminal history of two arrests on drug charges in Pinellas County, police said. He had two accomplices, Anthony Proios and Jared Tuck, close by and the three were arrested on Tuesday, police said.
According to police, Hernandez left Fenech's apartment after a quick deal, but Fenech soon found out about the fake money and ran outside, shooting into the air and then at the car, the Sentinel reported.
"Proios began to count the money when he realized it was counterfeit," the arrest report said. "He handed the bill to Fenech, who was already having a bad day. Proios said Fenech 'just snapped."
Fenech told police he heard gunshots but did not witness anyone shooting and said he didn't know anything about the assault rifle, the Sentinel reported.
Local
"He acknowledged the counterfeit currency and admitted that marijuana is occasionally sold from his residence," the police report said, according to the Sentinel.
Fenech is in Palm Beach County Jail and was charged with three counts of attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle. Tuck and Proios were in county jail and have been charged with tampering with physical evidence and accessory after the fact.
Police are still investigating the incident and other charges could be filed, the Sentinel reported.
