Cops: Lincolnshire man drove on revoked license for 10th time
A 41-year-old Lincolnshire man is charged with driving on a revoked license for the 10th time since 1987, police said Friday.
To pull that off, police say, Jeffrey D. Wilson, of the 0 to 100 block of GK Lane, used aliases to obtain fictitious drivers licenses in three states, confusing police into believing he was allowed to be behind the wheel.
"Every time he got arrested, he went with one of the aliases and it became extremely confusing," said Lincolnshire police Investigator John-Erik Anderson. "He always said he was not the person the police thought it was."
Wilson, who is free on $50,000 bond, is also charged with filing a false application or affidavit and unlawful possession of a fictitious drivers license.
If found guilty of the three felonies, he could spend up to seven years in jail.
Anderson said Wilson's driver's license problems began when he picked up four DUI charges between 1986 and 1998, including three between 1986 and 1987.
After the third DUI, Wilson obtained a new Illinois drivers license by changing his middle name, his birth date, obtaining a false birth certificate and getting a new social security card, Anderson said.
That license was revoked when Illinois Secretary of State's office discovered the false identity, Anderson said.
However, a clerical error allowed Wilson to obtain drivers licenses in North Carolina and Arizona that he used at various times in Illinois, Anderson said. Wilson also used information gleaned from friends to obtain new Illinois drivers licenses that contained his picture but someone else's information.
Anderson said Wilson went to great lengths to perpetuate his false identities. Following a 2006 arrest in Wilmette, where he used a bogus Arizona driver's license, he flew to Arizona and convinced the court to reinstate the document.
"He showed them a passport, social security card and other forms of identification to prove they suspended the wrong person," Anderson said. "The courts, thinking it was two different people, reinstated the Arizona license. But, the whole time, the other Wilson was really his alias."
Wilson's lies came to an end with a tip from an Illinois resident, and Anderson and another Lincolnshire investigator followed the paper trail.
Anderson said Wilson was arrested Feb. 5, and admitted to the aliases.
"Ironically, he was driving away when he came to arrest him," Anderson said. "My experience is that, had he just fulfilled the requirements imposed by the court back in 1987, he would have had his license reinstated back in the early 90s."