43-year-old Baltimore man charged with identity theft

Some crimes do not have a witness who can testify that a crime was committed. In Baltimore or elsewhere, it is possible to file criminal charges against a person with nothing more than circumstantial evidence. That is often the case with identity theft. The victim may not even know that he or she is a victim until weeks or months after the alleged crime took place.

Recently it was reported that a 43-year-old Baltimore man was charged with identity theft. In cases of identity theft the evidence is often circumstantial. Even so, it is a theft crime that carries a serious penalty. The 43-year-old man has been charged with nine theft-related charges for items that total about $14,000.

It was not reported how the identity theft was traced to the 43-year-old, or what type of evidence may have been seized at his place of residence. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and he was released on his personal recognizance following his arrest.

Apparently the Mount Airy man whose identity was stolen was unaware of the theft until contacted by the fraud department at a retailer for one of his credit cards. Over a period of about one week, there were allegedly charges made in Baltimore, Frederick and Silver Spring at stores including Kohl’s, Best Buy, Macy’s, JC Penney, Sears and Home Depot. According to news sources, the charges were made on an existing account plus new accounts that were opened using the Mount Airy man’s identity.

There was no reported convection between the 43-year-old man and the Mount Airy man.

In a case such as this, the police that collected the evidence need to follow all of the procedures for evidence collection. If those procedures were not followed, the evidence may be thrown out. As always, the person who is charged is innocent until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.

Source: Carroll County Times, “Man faces ID theft charges,” Brett Lake, Sept. 5, 2012