Sean C. Morgan
Linn County Deputy Bruce Davis might have been surprised to learn he had been stopped on his motorcycle in the Portland area, mostly because he wasn’t really there when a former Sweet Home police officer caught up with him.
The coincidence developed on Aug. 3 while Clackamas County Deputy Matt Swanson, formerly of Sweet Home Police Department, was on patrol in southeast Portland at 82nd and King.
A motorcycle looked like it may have been speeding, so Deputy Swanson got behind it and turned his patrol car’s lights on. The motorcyclists ran a red light, beginning a police pursuit through Portland.
With Portland police joining the pursuit, the motorcyclist fled police onto Interstate 205 at speeds of 80 to 100 mph then turning onto Powell Boulevard east toward Gresham driving up to 85 mph through a 40 mph zone.
The pursuit continued to Division and 168th where the motorcyclist “laid it down trying to negotiate the turn there,” Deputy Swanson said. The driver had superficial injuries.
“One of the Portland officers … handed me a couple of driver’s licenses that were in his wallet,” Deputy Swanson said. One had his real name, Michael McElroy, 25, of Gresham. The other one had a different name.
“When I ran the number, it actually came back to Bruce James Davis with the same date of birth,” Deputy Swanson said. The only thing that didn’t match was the address on the license.
Deputy Swanson had not met Deputy Davis before but knew of him when he owned a bike shop in Sweet Home. He had heard about Deputy Davis going to work for Linn County.
Deputy Swanson called Deputy Davis at work to tell him about the incident and confirmed the information on the license.
“I felt horrible for him,” Deputy Swanson said. “I was so glad he was working so I could get hold of him.…
“It was a total coincidence. What are the odds?”
To catch this suspect, Deputy Swanson had to be on patrol in the right place on the graveyard shift, all within the thousands of vehicles roaming Portland streets.
“Obviously, my biggest concern,” Deputy Davis said. “Was he using this as ID during traffic stops…. Did I have outstanding traffic tickets or stops?”
As far as he knows, there haven’t been any such problems.
“One of the things I come across a log of times with fake IDs, depending on how they forge the license, it will come back not on file or doesn’t exist,” Deputy Swanson said. Other times, with seven numbers pulled out of a hat, the check will show a totally different name.
Once the identity is stolen, it may be used only to write checks, but it can also present problems if someone is pulled over using false identification.
“It could be passed off as a legitimate ID,” Deputy Swanson said, and Deputy Davis could conceivably have ended up with a ticket he knew nothing about.
In this case, any police officer would have quickly identified the license as fake, Deputy Swanson said. Remotely possible, this particular fake license could have created problems for Deputy Davis.
“If he’s using my driver’s license, and someone issues him a ticket … it comes back as issued to me,” Deputy Davis said.
“The information on it was correct,” Deputy Swanson said. “Just running the number alone would not have raised my eyebrows.”
McElroy was charged with identity theft. As officers searched his backpack, they discovered the makings of a methamphetamine lab. They called a hazardous materials team to complete the search and investigate the lab.
The search turned up a Social Security card with Deputy Davis’ name.
“It’s one of those things — I have no idea where he got the information,” Deputy Davis said.
“We have no idea how that happened (the information was stolen),” Deputy Swanson said. “The only thing we can come up with is Bruce said years and years ago, he lived in Tigard; but that address was not the one he lived at.”
Such thefts can happen to anyone, and the source of information can range from stolen mail the public record, Deputy Swanson said. Another way information is stolen is from the dumpsters of businesses that may have personal information they do not shred. He recommends that people ask businesses what they will do with personal information when they dispose of it.
“I’ve really found people will get information,” Deputy Swanson said. “They can be pretty resourceful.”
When the false identity is assumed, crimes committed by the thief can be traced to the innocent victim of the theft, Deputy Swanson said. “That’s the reason these identity cases can be so hard to solve — because you’re chasing the good guy.”
During the investigation, police discovered the motorcycle had been purchased with a forged check, not in either Deputy Davis’ nor McElroy’s name. A copy of the forged check was found in the backpack. Police already had possession of the motorcycle for a couple of days when the owner discovered the fraud and it was reported stolen.
McElroy was also charged with unauthorized use a motor vehicle, reckless driving, eluding a police officer and possession of a controlled substance, precursors to manufacturing a controlled substance.