Kirkland Identity Theft Charges

A 32-year-old Kirkland man was charged this week by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with three counts of second-degree identity theft.

Two weeks before the alleged offenses, the defendant posted bond to be released from the King County Jail in a separate identity theft case filed by our office.

In the most recent identity theft investigation the Kirkland Police Pro ACT unit said they believed the defendant made more than a dozen purchases with a stolen bank card. The man who owned the card told Kirkland police the card disappeared after his car was prowled.

At the time this current case was filed, the defendant was already back in jail on a Department of Corrections escape warrant. In asking that he be held on bail, we explained to a judge that the defendant had 69 prior warrants — though the overwhelming majority of those did not involve cases handled by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Since the first case involving the defendant was referred to our office in 2007, we filed charges in six of eight cases sent to us by police. (We explained to police in the other two that we did not believe we could prove those cases beyond a reasonable doubt, but that we would re-review the cases if there was additional information available.)

A judge agreed with our bail request and held the defendant on $5,000 bail in the current identity theft case.

His arraignment, where he’s expected to enter a plea, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 16.

This post is based on information available as of November 4, 2020, and is not expected to be updated as the case moves forward.