Urbana Identity Theft

An Urbana man is facing some serious charges after police say he stole a local firefighter's identity to get two credit cards. He apparently got the information from his own police report. Twenty-six-year-old Esley Carter appeared in court this morning facing two counts of identity theft over $100,000. That hearing was continued until March 21st. Social Security numbers, names, and addresses are on police reports for the person being arrested and any witnesses, but police say they typically don't give the reports out. They say if someone request a report and there is another's vital information on it, they will not give it out. The suspect apparently got the firefighter's information from an Urbana police report detailing his arrest for domestic battery on November 15th, in which that firefighter was a witness. The theft came to light when the firefighter was contacted by Chase Manhattan Bank saying that they had received a credit application for two cards with a more than $100,000 line of credit, using his name and personal information. The firefighter who was the victim in all of this wishes to remain anonymous.