March 7, 2007

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  NEWS: Dallas Woman Steals Thief's ID, Gets Busted

  In a story that seems ripped from the "Darwin Awards," the annual accumulation of idiotic-but-true stories, a woman in Dallas, TX got busted for identity theft by taking the name, driver's license, and social security card of a woman who was already wanted by police! Heather Marie DuBeau, the hapless scamster in question, pled guilty to one count of the fraudulent use or possession of identifying information in the 196th District Court this week, and pled out for three years of deferred adjudication probation.

  
  DuBeau was busted in Greenville, TX when a local police office was using his in-car Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) to check out cars at a motel that DuBeau was staying at. One of the cars, a van, turned up to have been reported stolen in Dallas. Police tracked DuBeau to her room by checking the motel's registration, when she claimed to be Holly Moorehead – and had no clue about the van. Police ran Moorehead's name and turned up a misdemeanor theft warrant for her arrest out of Navarro County. Furthermore, the woman who was supposedly Moorehead had in her possession identification cards from Tennessee and Wisconsin, a Wisconsin Department of Corrections Offender card and a Social Security card, all with Moorehead's name and DuBeau's picture. When police asked Navarro County to fax them a picture of Moorehead, they discovered that the suspect they were holding was not, in fact, the petty thief they assumed. Just to make the story a bit odder, police also found a man hiding in the bathroom with cocaine and marijuana, among other drug paraphernalia.
  
  DuBeau faced a maximum sentence upon conviction of from 180 days to two years in a state jail and an optional fine of up to $10,000. Under the deferred adjudication of her plea bargain, she was not found guilty; however, if she violates her probation, she will be subject to the maximum sentence.
  
  
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