Just north of San Diego a man stopped for a routine traffic offense in Diamond Bar led to the arrest of five people who were charged with 19 felony counts of identity theft and counterfeiting on Friday, May 25.
Police never know what will happen when they pull over a car for reckless driving, running a stop sign, or an other “routine stop.” However, what they have been taught is that nothing is routine. One seemingly simple seatbealt violation stop recently ended up with the driver being charged with possession of marijuana, possession of heroin, possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number, possession of a handgun while involved in a drug trafficking crime, and use of a handgun while engaged in a drug trafficking crime.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
In the Diamond Bar case the driver of the vehicle was discovered to be already on parole. After talking with them, the officers asked both men for their identification cards. That was when this case took a sudden right turn.
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“Both Danny Martinez of Whittier and his passenger, Brian Padilla of Pico Rivera, were in possession of several counterfeit driver’s licenses, credit cards and social security numbers that didn’t belong to them,” Lt. Chris Blasnek said. “Both were arrested at the scene.”
While the deputies were talking with the men in the first car, a second car with two women pulled up behind them and stopped. That was this crime ring’s second mistake. Immediately the deputies approached the vehicle and began to question the women. They also had counterfeit driver’s licenses and credit cards on them. Both were arrested immediately.
Further questioning revealed that the four suspects were renting a room at a nearby hotel. A search of the room uncovered more evidence of identity theft and counterfeiting, including computers, a credit card reader and a machine used to create credit cards according to the investigators. A third woman, Jacqueline Acosta, was arrested at the motel.
It has not yet been disclosed how the thieves got the Social Security numbers, original credit cards, or how many people or businesses may have been compromised.
