New Columbia Man Charged After Counterfeit Bill Used to Buy Chainsaw

David Robert Young, a 59-year-old New Columbia man, faces criminal charges after staff at Westbranch Rental discovered he had used a counterfeit $100 bill to purchase a chainsaw and blade at the East Buffalo Township shop on Feb. 24.

The transaction at Westbranch Rental, located at 441 N. 10th St. near Lewisburg, went undetected until after Young had already left the store. Employees examined the bill following the sale and recognized it as fake, then reported the incident to the Buffalo Valley Regional Police Department. Officers subsequently opened an investigation that included a review of surveillance footage and collection of witness statements before charges were filed in the Lewisburg magisterial district.

For Westbranch Rental, the incident represented a double loss: the chainsaw and blade were gone, and the payment received was worthless. Counterfeit-currency cases impose that same compounded harm on small businesses, which typically absorb the inventory loss while also dedicating staff time to cooperating with police and court proceedings.

Buffalo Valley Regional Police filed the case as part of what officials described as a standard forgery and retail theft investigation. Such charges, which can include forgery and theft by deception, move first through a magisterial preliminary hearing before potentially advancing to the Union County court system depending on action by the district attorney's office.

Young has not yet entered a plea in the public record. The case was among several local law-enforcement items included in the Buffalo Valley Regional Police Department's recent activity reports, reflecting the steady volume of retail-crime matters the department handles across East Buffalo Township and the surrounding area.