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A federal investigator spotted the subject of one of his cases while vacationing at Disney World.
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Jeff Andre alerted local police, who arrested Quashon Burton outside Disney World’s Animal Kingdom.
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Burton, who was previously charged with identity theft, was visiting Disney World using a fake name.
A New York man who evaded arrest for about a year was arrested while vacationing at Disney World after an investigator in his case spotted him, authorities said.
Jeff Andre, a federal postal inspector, was at Disney World in October when he spotted Quashon Burton, who was on the run from police for a year after he was implicated in an identity theft scheme to steal $150,000 from pandemic loans, according to court documents seen by Insider.
“In order to carry out his scheme, Burton fraudulently obtained and used names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of at least four people,” court documents said. He was charged with conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft, court documents said.
Officers from the US Postal Inspection Service tried to arrest Burton, now 32, at his home in Brooklyn in November 2021, but he wasn’t there. Officers visited the home two other times, and Burton’s mother later told officers that he would “not be self-surrendering,” court documents said.
A federal complaint signed by Andre described Burton as someone with a “complex web of identities that made his crimes difficult to investigate.”
“Perhaps the most concerning factor here is the defendant’s persistent use of false identities and his demonstrated ability to evade law enforcement,” the court documents said. “He has clearly demonstrated an ability to mask his true identity to evade law enforcement. So too has he demonstrated a willingness to lie about this identity to avoid arrest.”
When Andre spotted Burton at the Animal Kingdom on October 20, he alerted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, who placed a deputy outside the park where they stopped Burton with two of his family members, The Daily Beast reported, citing the sheriff’s office report.
“I advised Quashon that I needed to speak with him about the possible suspicious activity he was involved in, and he questioned why he needed to provide his identification,” the report from the deputy said, per the Daily Beast. “Later, I advised him he was the subject of a warrant, and when I attempted to secure him, he began tensing up and bracing his arms. I informed him multiple times to place his hands behind his back, but he refused.”
After the deputy wrangled Burton “to the ground” during the arrest, adding a charge of resisting an officer without violence, Burton was taken to Orange County Jail and later placed in federal custody, the Daily Beast reported.
According to federal documents, Burton, who was serving probation for a separate charge, was visiting Disney World under a fake name and refused to identify himself by his legal name.
“At the time he was arrested in Disney World, he was present in the park under a false name. Even after fingerprints confirmed his identity, he persisted in telling law enforcement that he was not Quashon Burton,” a US attorney wrote in court documents seen by Insider, calling Burton an “extreme” flight risk.
A Southern District of New York judge ruled on Thursday that Burton should not be granted bail ahead of his trial, citing prior failures to appear in court, according to court documents.
Read the original article on Insider
