Police briefs_9/17

Staunton
n Staunton police are seeking information about the theft of 17 golf course flags and poles from Gypsy Hill Golf Course in Gypsy Hill Park.
Police said the equipment, valued at more than $1,300, went missing in late July.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Staunton police at 540-332-3842 or Central Shenandoah CrimeStoppers at 1-800-322-2017. Callers providing information leading to an arrest could receive cash awards of up to $1,000. The information can be provided anonymously.

Waynesboro
n A judge Wednesday sentenced a cash counterfeiter to one year in prison.
Matt A. Colvin, 31, used a home scanner to produce fake $50 bills in January, then used the bogus money at Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and 7-Eleven, Waynesboro police said.
A McDonald’s employee noticed a fake bill when a marker stripe turned “the wrong color,” Sgt. Kelly Walker said, but the suspect drove off before a manager could be alerted. That employee later identified Colvin after his arrest.
Authorities found scraps of fake bills during a search of Colvin’s home.

n A Waynesboro man indicted on charges of raping an 8-year-old girl has been ruled competent to stand trial.
Kenneth Wayne Pace, 43, is charged with two counts of rape and one charge of aggravated sexual battery. Waynesboro police said the man spent three days at Deluxe Budget Motel with the girl and assaulted her Nov. 7.
In court Wednesday, Judge Humes J. Franklin ordered that a closed-circuit television be set up so the victim can testify without being in the same courtroom as Pace during his Oct. 21 jury trial.
Pace, a registered sex offender, was convicted in Prince William Circuit Court for taking indecent liberties with another child.