Fake ID Leads to Felony Charges
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – A traffic stop on Saturday night led to the arrest of a Crockett resident on three felony charges and possible deportation.
Carlos Alberto Suarez-Gonzalez, 45-years-old, with a Crockett address, was arrested and charged with his third DWI, fraudulent use or possession of identifying information and tampering with a government record, license seal, certificate or permit after he was caught speeding on Sept. 17.
An arrest report filed by Sgt. Alfredo Fajardo with the Crockett Police Department stated the officer was on patrol on Saturday night when he observed a Honda SUV traveling at a high rate of speed down S. 4th St.
Once the car came to a stop on Magnolia St., Sgt. Fajardo stated in his report, “The driver, and only occupant of the car, later identified as Carlos Alberto Gonzalez Suarez, began to get out of the car and I told him to remain inside. While speaking with Carlos, I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from him and saw that he had red eyes. When asked for his driver’s license and vehicle insurance, Carlos asked to step back out and I agreed.”
After Suarez-Gonzalez had exited his vehicle, he pulled out a license from Mexico. Sgt. Fajardo asked how much he had to drink and Suarez-Gonzalez replied he had consumed two beers approximately 30 minutes prior to being stopped.
The officer asked Suarez-Gonzalez to walk to the back of the car, but before he complied, Suarez-Gonzalez asked if he could leave his wallet in the car. Once he made it to the rear of the vehicle, Fajardo administered several field sobriety tests to Suarez-Gonzalez.
“Based on the results of the field sobriety test and other indicators of intoxication, I decided to place Carlos under arrest for DWI. Before arresting him, I had him blow into a PBT (Portable Breathalyzer Test) which indicated that his BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) was about 0.208. Carlos was then placed under arrest,” the arrest report stated.
Following the arrest of Suarez-Gonzalez, an inventory of his car was conducted by CPD officers while they waited on a wrecker service to impound the vehicle. “During the inventory, Officer (Todd) Little got the wallet that Carlos had left in the car and saw that it possessed a counterfeit driver license. The license, which was designed to appear like a Texas Driver License (government record), had the name (of another individual) with the date of birth and had Carlos’ picture on it.”
A social security card with the name of the person on the license was also located during the inventory, along with a Mexican ID card with the name of Carlos Alberto Suarez-Gonzalez and a picture matching the suspect.
Gonzalez-Suarez was read a recording about having his blood drawn (in Spanish) to which he agreed. Before the procedure took place, the medical staff asked Suarez-Gonzalez if he had a social security card – for identification purposes – and he replied he did not.
Fajardo’s report stated, “After the blood draw, I walked Carlos back out to my patrol car and advised him of his Miranda Warnings, which he stated he understood. I then talked to him about the social security card and counterfeit driver license we found. Carlos told me that he did not have ‘papers’ so he was going to use it to try and get a job as (the individual listed on the fake driver license). He said that he only had the card for several days, but would not tell me who gave it to him. In reference to the false driver license, Carlos told me that he got it in Houston, but he had not used it. He said he knew he was wrong and apologized. I then drove Carlos to the Houston County Jail.”
Suarez-Gonzalez was booked into custody on a third degree felony DWI, fraudulent use or possession of identifying information – a state jail felony – and tampering with a government record, also a third degree felony.
He is still held at the Houston County Jail and his total bond has been set at $25,000.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
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