LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Las Vegas police patrol stop on a vehicle with a homemade license plate led to the arrest of a Las Vegas man now facing over a dozen criminal charges.
According to an LVMPD police report, a patrol officer spotted a Dodge Charger with a “fictitious” license plate on the 100 block of E. Tropicana Ave. on December 16. An officer observed that the plate was “extremely glossy/shiny, like it had been wrapped in Saran wrap,” and closer investigation revealed that it was made of a printed sheet of paper over cardboard.
The paper displayed a photo of a Nevada license plate, which the officer ran and confirmed belonged to a different Dodge Charger. The VINs of the two vehicles did not match, according to the police report.
The officer then spoke to the driver, Derek Williams, 45. The officer noted that the suspect was “extremely nervous with his hands continuously shaking.” He provided a fake Washington ID card.
Records checks revealed that the vehicle was stolen, and that the Washington ID the suspect presented belonged to someone else. Williams was arrested, and a subsequent search of his person turned up eight credit and debit cards issued in other people’s names.
Police also found a birth certificate and and a social security card in another name inside Williams’ wallet. An inventory of the vehicle found a zipped baggie containing “a large amount of miscellaneous keys which belonged to vehicles, houses, gates, lock boxes, etc.”
“No person should have this amount of miscellaneous keys,” the officer noted in his report. “Which would give them access to vehicles, houses, lock boxes, and any other locks, unless they used them with the intent to commit a burglary.”
The officer also found three books of checks in another person’s name in the trunk of the suspect’s car. The officer said he gave the suspect “countless opportunities” to provide his genuine identity, but Williams refused. Instead, he offered three different dates of birth.
The officer said he was able to identify the suspect through mug shots and tattoos, which included “Williams” across the man’s back, as well as his daughter’s first name beside the surname “Williams.” The police report noted that he also had a tattoo reading “Est. 78″ on his chest, leading to the belief that he was born in 1978.
After confirming the suspects identification, a records search returned five outstanding warrants, including charges of possessing fake ID info and possession of a financial forgery. Williams also had a host of other prior offenses in Nevada, which police said were primarily financial in nature.
Williams was booked into the Clark County Detention Center for his previous warrants and he also faces a dozen new charges, including possession of a stolen vehicle, forgery of a credit card with intent to defraud and obtaining or using another person’s ID to cause financial loss greater than $3,000.
He has a preliminary hearing scheduled in Clark County Justice Court on January 4, 2024. Court documents noted that bail will be discussed during a future hearing.
Copyright 2023 KVVU. All rights reserved.
