Out to clear his name - Identification can be tricky when there's no way to verify

Out to clear his name - Identification can be tricky when there's no way to verify

9/29/02

Cliff Ryman, who works as a commercial truck driver, carries a letter explaining that he was a victim of identity theft and is not wanted on afelony drug charge, but he was still booked into jail in June.

By Cathy Logg
Herald Writer

MARYSVILLE -- When Cliff Ryman attempted to renew his driver's license in 1996, he discovered he had a major problem.

Protect yourself

Here are some ways to reduce the risk of being caught in the identity theft web:

Be careful to whom you reveal personal information.

Guard your mail from theft by posting mail at the post office or mail collection boxes. Promptly remove it after delivery.

Follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive. Credit card bills might have personal information.

Put passwords on credit card, bank and telephone accounts.

Minimize the amount of personal information you carry with you.

Don't give out personal information on the phone or through mail unless you initiate the contact.

Never dispose of personal information in the trash or recycling bin. Tear or shred credit card applications, insurance forms, checks, bank statements, etc.

Keep personal information in a safe place within your home.

Make sure sensitive information at work is kept secure.

Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies every year. The law allows credit bureaus to charge up to $8.50 each for a credit report.

His license, officials told him, was suspended due to multiple drunken-driving charges and other violations, including charges for driving while his license was suspended. Ryman, who said he's had no DUI arrests or license suspensions, was stunned.

He began an odyssey of trying to clear his name and find out who had stolen and used his identity, leaving behind a trail of crimes and arrest warrants that landed Ryman in jail three times. As a commercial truck driver, Ryman frequently is stopped by Washington State Patrol troopers or commercial vehicle enforcement officers. So he carries a letter signed by the Benton County prosecutor explaining that Ryman was a victim of identity theft and isn't the man wanted on a felony drug charge who has been using his identity. But when a Snohomish County sheriff's deputy checked Ryman's record in June, the deputy learned of the warrant and booked Ryman into the Snohomish County Jail.

Ryman says the deputy didn't read the letter or listen to his explanation. Then, after jail personnel figured out that he wasn't the wanted man -- Wayne Edward Evans -- they still refused to let him go. Instead, he said, they told him he'd have to stay in jail and return to Benton County to straighten things out.

Both the sheriff's office and the jail are looking into the matter.

When an inmate's identity is in dispute, the best way to verify it is with fingerprints, jail administrative officer George Hughes said.

The sheriff's office employees who compare fingerprints only work weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. So anyone arrested at night, on holidays or weekends stays in jail until their fingerprints are checked, unless there is some other means of positive identification, he said.

With the letter from Benton County and a driver's license, such an identification might have been made, Hughes said.

Ryman, 33, said his driver's license was in his wallet, but he was told it wasn't the jail's problem to straighten out.

"People need to be aware that this can happen to anybody," Ryman said. "It's a nightmare. They didn't want to deal with it, and didn't care who they had in jail."

Jail officials say positive identification isn't that simple.

"At first blush, it looks like we had no knowledge that he was not the person on the warrant, since he was also booked under this (Evans') name 'also known as,'" Hughes said.

"If they established that he was Ryman and not the person wanted (on the warrant), they wouldn't book him. "

A day after his arrest, Ryman was sent on a jail bus headed for Benton County. But first the bus stopped at the Regional Justice Center in Kent. Jail officials there determined that he wasn't the wanted man and released him.

With no money or transportation home, Ryman said, he pawned a gold necklace to get money for bus tickets.

Ryman said he's never lost his Social Security card or driver's license, so he doesn't know how Evans, who apparently is about 10 years younger, got his personal information.

So far, Evans has used Ryman's name to commit crimes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Colorado, "and who knows where else," Ryman said.

Ryman's Everett attorney, Walter Wagner, said he's still investigating some details of the case. In about a month, he said, he'll file damage complaints against the sheriff's office and the jail.

Throughout the ordeal, Ryman suggested authorities call Benton County to confirm his story, but no one did, Wagner said.

Ryman admits that he made a stupid mistake, too.

When he was approached by the deputy, he was sleeping in his pickup under the U.S. 2 trestle after he'd had an argument with his wife.

He heard the dispatcher advise the deputy of the warrant over the radio while he was trying to show the deputy the letter, and the deputy asked for other officers to back him up, Ryman said.

"I thought, 'Oh, my God, here we go again. I don't want to go to jail,'" he said.

He panicked and tried to run, but slipped in mud and fell, and the deputy "was on me right away," he said.

Too late, he realized that didn't help him, Ryman said.

"This whole thing is ruining my life," he said.

Related story:

Thousands suffer identity theft

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