First identity, then SUV stolen in St. Charles

An unidentified man first stole an identity, then used it to steal a car from a St. Charles auto dealership last month.

A new St. Charles police report details the use of a Chicago man's identity, one of many stolen when a school district laptop went missing, to purchase a new 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee from a dealership with no money down. The dealership thought it had made a good sale until the Chicago man received a letter from the dealership informing him that his new license plates were available. The Chicago man then called the dealership to say he had not purchased a new car, nor ever been to St. Charles.

The dealership told police it ran a credit check on the purchaser and came back with a positive report. With no reason to doubt the man's true identity, financing was approved. Police then ran their own check on the purchaser's identification information and found his description did not match with the actual resident of the home address he'd provided.

The Jeep, valued at about $51,000, is now considered a stolen vehicle.