When a 39-year-old man driving a green Subaru was stopped on Ledge Road at the Interstate 95 by a police officer, the man handed over a driver’s license which the officer realized was obviously fraudulent, according to police.
Police gave this account of what happened, including accusations not proven in court:
The identification, purporting to be a New York driver’s license identifying the driver as “Eddy Moreno,” appeared to have been glued together. Asked about the license, the driver insisted several times that it was legitimate and that it properly identified him.
The officer, who first saw the Subaru on the Post Road, had stopped it because the car didn’t have a front license plate, and the back license plate belonged on a red Honda Accord. The driver admitted that the license didn’t belong with that car, but added that the car belonged to a friend.
The driver’s license had a bar code on it, which the officer scanned in the patrol car. The scan indicated the bar code was for a New York state license for a driver with a different name.
The driver in the Subaru was arrested.
When he was taken to Darien Police Headquarters, the driver admitted that he had bought the phony license in New York City, paying $150 for it. He said his real name is Elder Gonzalez, a resident of Frederick Street in Stamford. He gave his birth date as the same one on the license, which would make him 39.
Gonzalez was charged with first-degree forgery, criminal impersonation, failure to insure a motor vehicle, improper use of a license plate and driving a motor vehicle without a license. He posted a $500 bond and was released at 9:15 p.m. Gonzalez is scheduled to appear Aug. 28 in state Superior Court in Stamford.