As the saying goes, no one can escape the long arm of the law for long, and indeed, it is true as a mail fraud suspect who bears the name of the Looney Tunes character, Speedy Gonzalez was arrested by authorities in Georgia, according to a report on NBC News.
Police officers told NBC News that the 35-year-old Buford man was caught at a traffic stop in Gwinnett County. The man whose legal name is Speedy Gonzalez is now under the custody of authorities. Authorities said that Speedy Gonzalez is facing mail fraud charges and have been hiding and running from law enforcers for several months before his arrest.
A building of the US Postal Office along a busy street.
Checks Went Missing
In a statement, Gwinnett County police said that law enforcer started looking for Speedy Gonzalez after a report about missing checks reach them. The police added that last January, a resident living in Lake Haven Way complained that multiple checks were looted from his mailbox. According to the victim, he was expecting that the checks will be picked up by the USPS. And send it to its intended recipients. The victim narrated that after the checks went missing, he found out that there was $3,000 in forgeries.
Authorities conducted an investigation, which led to the identification of the perpetrator. Authorities got an initial identification for the suspect and named Speedy Gonzalez as a possible suspect for the stolen check. Investigations showed that he was the one who swiped the checks. Based on the investigation, Speedy Gonzalez visited the Home Depot on Stone Mountain Highway and bought over $3,000 worth of items. Later, the suspect returned the purchased items to get the cash.
Jail time for Speedy Gonzalez
Officials told the report that last month, police pinpointed that Speedy Gonzalez stole the checks. However, he lived up to his name and evaded arrested for another month. Investigators said in the report that before his arrest, Speedy Gonzalez had been spotted in Sevierville and Knoxville, Tennessee. Unlike the Looney Tunes character, the arms of law finally caught up Speedy Gonzalez on Saturday as authorities arrested him in Gwinnett County, ending months of hunting him down.
As opposed to the traits of the Looney Tunes character, Speedy Gonzalez was put behind bars and has been charged with multiple offenses, which include forgery, identity theft, and theft by deception.
According to the report, it was not the first time that the suspect committed mail fraud. He also has outstanding warrants in another Georgia county and Alabama on similar counts. However, it still unsure if Speedy Gonzalez already has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf.
According to the USPS, to protect against identity theft, they suggest placing outgoing mail in a USPS collection box or hand-delivering it at your local POST Office.
Protection Against Mail Theft
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) offers some tips on how to get protected from mail theft. According to USPIS, deposit mail in U.S. Postal Service collection boxes or give it directly to the mail carrier. USPIS is urging people to refrain from sending cash or sensitive information through the mail and do not leave their mails in the mailbox overnight or on weekends.
USPIS added that they must shred unwanted documents that contain personal information before throwing them out. And warned people not to give personal information over the phone or the Internet abruptly.
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