MILWAUKEE, March 18 (UPI) -- A Milwaukee police officer who allegedly bought a 7-year-old boy's Social Security number and used it to buy a Mercedes was arrested this week.
Lymon Taylor, 33, was freed on $5,000 bond Wednesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He was charged with felony identity theft, which carries a potential sentence of six years in prison.
The Milwaukee Police Department suspended Taylor, spokeswoman Anne Schwartz said.
Investigators said another man, Lee Ellis, told them he and Taylor discovered a California company that said it could repair credit ratings and charged a $2,500 fee. Both were given Social Security numbers and told to use them with their own names and a different address.
Taylor was allegedly using a number assigned to a 7-year-old boy in Racine, Wis. The boy's parents insisted on prosecution, police said.
The police officer allegedly used the new number to obtain a loan for the purchase of a 2007 Mercedes-Benz S550 with a Blue Book value of around $48,000.
Read More
- 'Most Wanted' cyber bandit nabbed in Nice
- Woman allegedly got fraudulent boob job
- Feds: Accused man admitted duping women
- ID thieves used medical patients' files
- Dozens charged in identity theft ring
- Using false S.S. number not impersonation
- Report: ID theft scam preys on job-hunters
- Woman's suit for false jailing nears trial
- H&R Block ex-employee charged with fraud