Cypress Couple Held on Counterfeiting, Drug, Theft Charges

The Secret Service is investigating a Cypress couple on suspicion of counterfeiting after the pair tried to use fake money to buy a CD player, Huntington Beach police said Friday.

Rosen Pulido, 40, and Renee Sidoti, also known as Renee Whitten, were booked on 11 counts, including possession of counterfeit money and passing counterfeit money, possession of a controlled substance, burglary and identity theft, said Lt. Ed Deuel.

Police arrested the couple Thursday after being flagged down by a Best Buy employee who had been given a fake $100 bill, Deuel said. Sidoti fled Best Buy, but police stopped her in a nearby parking lot, where Deuel said she tried to abandon a bag containing several thousand fake bills, drugs and fake IDs.

During a search of the couple’s home, police said they found two stolen motorcycles; burglary tools; fake ID cards; stolen and fake credit cards; and computer equipment and copy machines used to make the counterfeit money.