Disappointment abounded for two sanitation workers who found that a pair of $100 bills that had been left in an envelope for them were counterfeit.

A 45-year-old man and a 43-year-old man, both of Bangor, and both workers for Pine Tree Waste Disposal, which handles residential waste for the city, were greeted by an envelope on a garbage can Wednesday that read, “For the garbage man,” Bangor police Officer Allen Hayden said. After looking into the envelope the pair found two hundred-dollar bills. The envelope had been left on a garbage can in front of an apartment complex on Griffin Road.

Each man took one of the bills to a separate store to be checked, Hayden said. The 45-year-old took his gift to Young’s Market on the corner of Ohio and Court streets. A clerk there used a special marker to check whether the bill was authentic and discovered that it was not. The man then contacted police and admitted that the money had looked “funny” to begin with.

The 43-year-old man had taken his to an area store for testing as well and was given the same news, Hayden said. Each bill had the same serial number on it. Both bills were taken as evidence.

While two vehicles were demolished in an accident at the corner of Oak and Hancock streets Thursday afternoon, the three people inside them were not seriously injured.

Kathleen Whitten, 69, of Brewer had been driving her blue 1998 Ford sedan west on Hancock Street when a red 1998 Chrysler van drove through a red light and struck the driver’s side of Whitten’s car, Bangor police Officer Erik Tall said. Shirley Howard, 73, of Bangor also had been in the car. The two women had been just a few hundred yards from their Hancock Street homes. Each complained of minor injuries.

Richard Smith, 77, had been driving the van north on Oak Street and told police he did not recall driving through a red light, Tall said. Damage to the van was estimated at $9,000 while damage to the car was estimated at $4,000. All three people were wearing seat belts.

– Compiled by NEWS reporter Derek Breton