DeKalb police uncover scheme to obtain cars through identity theft

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DeKALB - DeKalb police have charged three men with possession of a stolen vehicle after an investigation reportedly revealed the vehicles had been obtained illegally. In one case, police say the cars were purchased under another person's name, and in the other two the vehicles reportedly had fake vehicle identification numbers. Samuel B. Jackson, 22, of DeKalb was arrested Monday after police saw the 2002 BMW he was driving in front of Lincoln Hall on Lucinda Drive on the Northern Illinois University campus. DeKalb Police Lt. Jim Kayes said the car had been reported stolen after a finance company failed to receive payments on the car. The car reportedly had been purchased in Westmont with the stolen identity of a Texas woman, he said. "Her identity was stolen and someone used her Soc(ial Security number) and date of birth and went into a car dealership and buys a car," Kayes said. "She has good credit because she is a reputable person. They set the name up with an address in Chicago, they buy the car, sign the papers and get license plates with it. The only time it's problematic is when the finance company says, 'Hey, nobody is making payments on this and where are we going to find it.' Eventually it would go and contact a police department and enter it as stolen, but by then they may have unloaded it." Police stopped Jackson at the Chick Evans Field House parking lot, where he was questioned. "While we were there and had them stopped, he said he had his driver's license in his other car and he'd have his guy come over with that," Kayes said. The friend came over in another 2002 BMW that was also was reported stolen after it allegedly had been purchased in the same way as the first BMW. Kayes said the friend was not arrested or charged because police could not link him to the car. A passenger with Jackson also was released. Kayes said Jackson is a Kishwaukee College student. "The cars are worth $55,000, used," Kayes said. "They are expensive pieces of machinery." Police confiscated both cars, Kayes said. Also on Monday, Rodolfo G. Galvan, 36, of DeKalb was arrested when police saw the 2001 Ford Expedition he was driving in the parking lot of 7-Eleven, 930 N. Annie Glidden Road. The truck matched the description of one stolen in Florida. Kayes said the truck was stolen in Florida, and the vehicle identification number on the dashboard and on a door had been replaced. "They were illegally titled in Florida, but when they get an Illinois one, then it's totally legal," Kayes said. Another DeKalb man, Ramon P. Blanco, 42, of DeKalb, was arrested on Oct. 28 after he was found with a 2004 Ford Expedition that had been stolen in Florida. Blanco previously had been arrested on Sept. 22 when he was reportedly found with a 2000 Chevy Tahoe that had been stolen in Wisconsin. Kayes said Blanco was arrested in September after a hit-and-run accident in which he also was charged with driving under the influence. The October arrest came after police saw the truck in the parking lot of a business in the 900 block of North Annie Glidden Road and Blanco allegedly ran away. "The case with Galvan and Blanco was really initiated by patrol officers who were really vigilant on the street," Kayes said. "They did a very nice job." An investigation and further charges are pending, Kayes said. All three men are charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, a Class 2 Felony, punishable by three to seven years in prison and a fine of $25,000. Aracely Hernandez can be reached at ahernandez@pulitzer.net.