Man sues city for not clearing name tarnished by identity theft

INDIANAPOLIS — For nearly a decade, Wesley Taylor has been dogged by a checkered past.

The problem? It’s not his own.

What began after the Indianapolis man’s wallet was stolen in 2006 has evolved into a worst-case scenario of identity theft — one that experts say could happen to anyone, and is nearly impossible to fix. Although he’s tried to clear his name, Taylor says the record has followed him, preventing him from landing numerous jobs. His driver’s license was suspended. An application for a gun permit was denied.

Now, Taylor, 28, is suing the city of Indianapolis in federal court. He claims officials didn’t do enough to help him correct a record tarnished by another man he says stole his identity and passed himself off as Taylor while committing several misdemeanor crimes. That man is now sitting in a prison cell on a murder conviction.

“This is what you see on paper,” Taylor said. “You see me as a gun-toting, arrest-resisting murderer.”

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The complaint alleges that, despite Taylor’s pleas with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the Marion County court staff to remove his name from the other man’s cases, the criminal record stayed wrongfully associated with Taylor for years. That inaction, Taylor's complaint alleges, amounted to defamation.

Taylor said his message to Indianapolis is simple: “If somebody didn’t do something, just take it out of their name.”

Representatives from the city’s legal department declined to comment about Taylor’s case.

It’s easy for Taylor to trace the source of his troubles. Around 2006, he says he left his wallet, containing his driver’s license, Social Security number and several ID cards, in the car of an acquaintance. The car owner said he never saw the wallet, and nothing was ever recovered.

Two years later, Taylor said, he realized that something was wrong when he was pulled over by police and told that a warrant for a narcotics-related arrest had been filed in his name in Detroit.

“I told the officer I had never been to Detroit,” he said. “They were perplexed by that.”

Since the warrant didn’t require extradition, Taylor said he was allowed to leave to sort out the problem. It wasn’t long before new allegations surfaced.

In August 2008, Taylor was picked up on charges of resisting law enforcement and possessing a handgun without a license. He pleaded not guilty and the case was quickly dropped.

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When he was in court, however, Taylor said a judge told him about another case –— one in which someone calling himself Wesley Taylor was charged with resisting law enforcement, possession of marijuana, possession of a handgun without a license and public intoxication. The man involved was eventually convicted on the marijuana and handgun charges.

As Taylor pressed further, he said he learned from court officials that the man was actually named Timothy Ware, and that Ware had given authorities Taylor’s Social Security number upon his arrest. So he went to the identification and records section of IMPD to obtain a fingerprint ID and documentation that the two men were different people.

Taylor said he thought the paperwork clearing his name meant the issue was resolved. But in 2010, he said, the Ware convictions caused the revocation of his driver’s license. While authorities reinstated his license and drew up paperwork about the mix-up, Taylor said he had enough.

He filed a police report. “That’s when I started hearing that I was going to have to live with these charges.”

Over the next few years, Taylor learned what that meant. Despite having some college education and customer service training, he said he was never able to secure stable employment — applications at Guitar Center and Comcast were denied because he was told of convictions on his record. A father of three boys, Taylor said he was relegated to temporary assignments, often doing hard labor.

“Any opportunities I had with any companies were essentially diminished due to that background,” Taylor said.

What happened to Taylor may appear to be unusual, but experts say it’s not unique or even unlikely. Personal security and identity theft expert Robert Siciliano, who runs the website BestIDTheftCompanys.com, called Taylor’s situation a “nightmare” that could happen to anyone at any time.

The people responsible for this type of fraud vary from case to case. Siciliano said perpetrators of identity theft could be anyone from a sophisticated and organized mob working online, to a local crime syndicate of two-to-20 members who pass stolen identification between each other.

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Siciliano said it's impossible to know how many cases of criminal identity theft are recorded. While there are at least 10 million newly reported cases of identity theft each year, Siciliano said that number includes all types, from credit card fraud to medical, criminal or tax identity theft.

“To get that criminal record extinguished is easier said than done,” Siciliano said, adding that such theft forces the victim to wade through multiple agency bureaucracies, from various court systems to motor vehicle registries.

Background checks can pose a problem for victims of criminal identity theft. A Janesville, Wis., man whose identity was stolen in 1998 was arrested numerous times because of arrest warrants falsely filed in his name. The man told NBC News reporters in 2003 that he was contemplating a name change.

False criminal records, Siciliano said, are “kind of like in cement.” While the problem is often fixable if one finds out about a fraudulent arrest within the first six months of a theft, Siciliano said, sometimes the victims don’t find out about the problem for years.

By that point, he said, “it can take a long time to get that taken care of.”

Like Taylor, other victims of criminal identity theft also have taken their cases to court, claiming that government officials should have a stronger responsibility for clearing a victim’s name. In 2012, an El Paso man named John Shelby sued city officials, alleging they gave out false information about fraudulent arrests to agencies who were performing background checks on him.

According to court documents, those background checks showed that another man’s felonies had been committed by Shelby. He ultimately lost his case.

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Siciliano said government agencies should make efforts to more effectively clear a victim’s name. But he also said those agencies aren’t in a good position to do so.

“They’re not used to dealing with that type of an issue,” he said. "They don't readily have systems to deal with fraud."

Siciliano praised efforts like Taylor’s, adding that if the case is successful in court, it could help set precedent for how much responsibility the government has to help correct the records of victims.

Said Siciliano: “He’s doing exactly what he should be doing.”

As Taylor waits on his lawsuit, he says he believes he’s on the road to recovery. Last month, he started work with a mortgage company, which approved his employment after he showed them paperwork from IMPD and the state of Indiana that proved his identity. A search through the state's criminal case management system shows that the Ware convictions are no longer associated with him.

Although Taylor hopes his new job will help him find stability, he said he still worries sometimes.

“My main goal is just to make sure this stuff stays out of my name,” he said, “and it doesn’t ever pop back up again and hassle me.”

Taylor's case is set for an initial hearing at the U.S. Courthouse in Downtown Indianapolis on Nov. 19.

How to protect yourself from identity theft

• Keep your social security number in a safe place, and only give it out when absolutely necessary.

• Don't carry the number with you.

• Don't respond to unsolicited requests for personal information, like your name, birth date or bank account number.

• When typing your passwords on computers or ATMs, watch out for people who might be looking over your shoulder. Shield the keypad.

• Collect mail promptly, and ask the post office to put mail on hold when you are away from home.

• Shred receipts, credit offers, account statements and expired cards to prevent people who might otherwise look through your trash to obtain your personal information.

Tips from USA.gov's website on identity theft

Contributing: Cathy Knapp, The Indianapolis Star. Follow Jill Disis on Twitter: @jdisis