Staff report

A homeless Atlanta man picked up in Salisbury attempting to pass phony $100 bills was apparently part of a network trying to scam businesses.
Aaron Justin Aikens, 21, was charged Friday with five counts of possession of counterfeit bills and attempting to obtain property by false pretense.
Police said Aikens had six counterfeit $100 bills on him when he attempted to buy a Playstation 3 and an I-Pod at Walmart on Arlington Street.
The six bills had originally been $5 bills that had been washed and printed to look like $100 bills.
Police said Aikens had been recruited and dressed in a new suit to visit stores apparently throughout the region.
Aikens told police that typically his role had been to return merchandise ó bought with counterfeit money ó to stores to get real money.
The U.S. Secret Services recently warned merchants to beware of counterfeit bills earlier this month. Similar bills ó washed $5 reprinted as $100 ó showed up in Atlanta.