Identity Theft
Last night, when my mom made her nightly call, I could tell that something was up. My mom is dramatic. She likes people to take notice when she's feeling bad, depressed, whatever or if something big is going on in her life. And this . . . THIS is a doozy.
I am righteously pissed.
My brother got a letter from a place two hours away from our home that basically said he was in contempt of court. Apparently, on Labor Day weekend, he was caught on a beach with a group of boys and given a citation for underaged drinking and polluting the beach. The report gave a few specifics like this person that was cited had my brother's name, his birthday, blue eyes, blonde hair, same height, and our address, but the signature doesn't match my brother's (at least mom says it doesn't), no phone number was given, no social security number, and no I.D.
Now, while I'm VERY aware that my brother is EXTREMELY capable of doing something like this and hiding it from my parents (and I am willing to lay blame when I think it's due), I KNOW my brother didn't do this. If he HAD gotten in trouble that night and wanted to hide it from my parents, he is more than adept at coming up with an excuse to get out of work in order to meet a court date.
For one thing, he worked Labor Day weekend, and he could have NEVER made it to the location to be cited at the time the citation occurred. Also, my brother always has I.D. on him. And - this is the big thing - he was home ASLEEP when the citation occurred. He also claims that he doesn't know the other person who got cited that night.
So, the whole family is frantically looking for witnesses and material proof (cell phone registers, time cards, etc.) to present in court. I'm going with him. I want to see this ass hole who was an accomplice in this travesty. But - as concerned as I am about my brother going to court and having to defend himself for something he didn't do - I'm more afraid of the overall implications. If this person masquerading as my brother has his address, birthdate, and all that, he's just a hop, skip, and jump from being able to get a social security card which would make it possible for him to get credit cards and God only knows what else.
Today, he and my mom went to the police station at this-two-hours-away-place to meet with the ranger who supposedly gave Matt the citation. She said she couldn't be sure if she recognized him. Another ranger said he usually took a picture if the person in trouble didn't have I.D., but did this lady? Nope. That would have solved this mystery right then and there. So, Matt's gonna call the Chief on Monday to see if there's any way to get this settled before the court date which is a month away.
In the meantime, I've made a startling discovery. The police gave my mom the supposed phone number of the other guy who got cited - the one my brother claims to not know. So I called it and found that it was an invalid number BUT it had been changed to another number. I called the second number, got no answer, and looked it up on the internet. Low and behold!!!!! It's the business phone number of a place we know VERY WELL. In fact, our neighbors work for said business. And I think my grandfather's business (Matt works from my grandfather's business) does business with said neighbor's business.
I am intrigued. And pissed.
I just hope my brother's temper holds up in court. The boy needs anger management classes (he's not violent just overly cocky).
- Kysra
I am righteously pissed.
My brother got a letter from a place two hours away from our home that basically said he was in contempt of court. Apparently, on Labor Day weekend, he was caught on a beach with a group of boys and given a citation for underaged drinking and polluting the beach. The report gave a few specifics like this person that was cited had my brother's name, his birthday, blue eyes, blonde hair, same height, and our address, but the signature doesn't match my brother's (at least mom says it doesn't), no phone number was given, no social security number, and no I.D.
Now, while I'm VERY aware that my brother is EXTREMELY capable of doing something like this and hiding it from my parents (and I am willing to lay blame when I think it's due), I KNOW my brother didn't do this. If he HAD gotten in trouble that night and wanted to hide it from my parents, he is more than adept at coming up with an excuse to get out of work in order to meet a court date.
For one thing, he worked Labor Day weekend, and he could have NEVER made it to the location to be cited at the time the citation occurred. Also, my brother always has I.D. on him. And - this is the big thing - he was home ASLEEP when the citation occurred. He also claims that he doesn't know the other person who got cited that night.
So, the whole family is frantically looking for witnesses and material proof (cell phone registers, time cards, etc.) to present in court. I'm going with him. I want to see this ass hole who was an accomplice in this travesty. But - as concerned as I am about my brother going to court and having to defend himself for something he didn't do - I'm more afraid of the overall implications. If this person masquerading as my brother has his address, birthdate, and all that, he's just a hop, skip, and jump from being able to get a social security card which would make it possible for him to get credit cards and God only knows what else.
Today, he and my mom went to the police station at this-two-hours-away-place to meet with the ranger who supposedly gave Matt the citation. She said she couldn't be sure if she recognized him. Another ranger said he usually took a picture if the person in trouble didn't have I.D., but did this lady? Nope. That would have solved this mystery right then and there. So, Matt's gonna call the Chief on Monday to see if there's any way to get this settled before the court date which is a month away.
In the meantime, I've made a startling discovery. The police gave my mom the supposed phone number of the other guy who got cited - the one my brother claims to not know. So I called it and found that it was an invalid number BUT it had been changed to another number. I called the second number, got no answer, and looked it up on the internet. Low and behold!!!!! It's the business phone number of a place we know VERY WELL. In fact, our neighbors work for said business. And I think my grandfather's business (Matt works from my grandfather's business) does business with said neighbor's business.
I am intrigued. And pissed.
I just hope my brother's temper holds up in court. The boy needs anger management classes (he's not violent just overly cocky).
- Kysra