54-foot height error identifies fake ID

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WASHINGTON, Pa., April 12 (UPI) -- Police in Pennsylvania said they were tipped off to use of a fake ID when a scanner used on it read the card holder's height as 54 feet tall.

Washington police said an employee at an alcohol distributor in the city called police Saturday night when a card scanner read the height as 54 feet tall, instead of the intended 5 feet 4 inches, The Observer-Reporter in Washington, reported Tuesday.

"An ID scanner was used to verify the age, but the print batch indicated an error on the height of the person," officer Johnathan Miller said. "But there was an error on the purchaser's height. Instead of showing the buyer was 5 feet 4 inches tall, it indicated they were 54 feet tall.

"It indicated that the identification came back as valid, but when it was printed out, it came back as only partial data was accepted and it should have said full data accepted."

Police said the incident led them to seize multiple fake IDs used at the establishment and most of the young people interviewed identified the same Web site as the source of the false documents.

Police said the investigation was ongoing and charges were expected to be filed.