ID theft nightmare for a Broken Arrow man

An outrageous case of identity theft. Someone is using a Broken Arrow man's name and social security number, not to ruin his credit, but to commit crimes. <br><br>And according to News on 6 crime

Friday, March 12th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

An outrageous case of identity theft. Someone is using a Broken Arrow man's name and social security number, not to ruin his credit, but to commit crimes.

And according to News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright, it's causing a legal nightmare for the victim, a nightmare that's not over since the thief is still out there and there's no telling what he'll do next. Charles and Michelle Pfister moved to Oklahoma last year and what a terrible year it's been.

First, their garage was broken into, among the things stolen, was his wallet and Ohio driversâ€™ license, which had his social security number on it. A few weeks later, more bad news. "I had a bench warrant out in my name for traffic violations."

Someone using Trey's name and social security got these tickets and never paid them, so Trey went to court and when the officer said he wasn't the same man, the tickets were dismissed. Trey thought it was all over. But it wasn't over, not too long ago a man got gas and didn't pay for it. He gave Charles Pfister's name. A police officer told the man to pay for the gas or a warrant would be issued. Of course he never paid it and the warrant came out for the wrong man.

Trey got a statement from the gas clerk saying he wasn't the gas thief, in fact, the thief is 20 with brown hair, in a Prelude, Trey is in his late 30's with blonde hair and has never owned a Prelude. Trey went to court and says the DA agreed to drop the charges if Trey paid the court costs. He felt that was wrong, so refused. He was mugged and printed and had to pay $150 bond on top of his attorney's fees.

Michelle Pfister: "I want people to be as outraged as we are because this can happen to anybody." I called Rogers County DA Gene Haynes who says he believes Trey is innocent and agrees he shouldn't have to pay court costs, but said it's up to the judge.

We called the judge and late Friday afternoon, learned the charges were dismissed and court costs waived. Unfortunately, Trey's case is not that rare.

I recently told you about Lana Hill who's fighting felony charges in Missouri after someone tore up a motel room using her name and social security number, even though Lana doesn't match the description and owns a different car than the suspect.

And, it's no wonder with people like Ruby Shelton on the loose. Police say she's used other people's identities since the 1960â€™s; she's currently wanted in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Statistically, most of us aren't at risk for being victims of violent crimes, but, we are all at risk for identity theft.