UPDATE 4/23/19
My apologies for the delay as the investigation continues, but I wanted to provide an update to you all because the community had been so helpful in catching this guy.
Crime: Package and identity theft, etc.
Summary:
In the last week of March 2019, our security cameras kept catching a man taking packages off our porch in south College Station. On the third attempt, the majestic Brazos County Sheriff setup a sting and caught the guy. Prior to the arrest, a tip was made privately from a TexAgs member of who identified the perpetrator from the video footage which gave the LEOs a head start.
Perpetrator: David Anthony Slafka
The details:
It turns out this man David Slafka was part of a larger group that steals identities, purchases goods under their credit, has the items shipped to the victims' house while tracking FedEx and UPS so as to be able to quickly obtain the package. They then ship the stolen goods off to the part of the larger group, likely in exchange for payment. In my case, David applied for and used my credit for purchase of electronics like iPhones and computers from Dell, AT&T, Sprint, etc. I am not the only victim in the Brazos Valley from Mr Slafka's actions.
Implications:
My credit has been tarnished and I have received statements from these companies. I am working to repair my credit and undo this mess but this will take some time. Mr Slafka has not been as cooperative with officials as we had hoped and was released on bond after a few nights stay in jail.
Other comments:
I don't know how he stole my identity because as I mentioned, Mr Slafka has resisted to reveal this during the ongoing investigation. Under good advice, it is recommended that I not disclose much more information but I do believe it is helpful to keep the community in the loop as to what happened and how grateful we are for the many people who helped us catch this man. I wish I had the hours of time back that I have and will have to spend in cleaning up this mess, but I also know that much time was saved by the TexAgs community and Sheriffs involved. I also have to thank today's easy-to-use technology (Arlo cameras) and UPS "Live Tracking" (cool tracking of the packages prior to delivery).
Thank you all for your kind help in catching this guy and God bless!
Mike
Video clips combined: http://mhnatt.s3.amazonaws.com/package.mov
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UPDATE 3/27/19 8:30pm-is: Suspect is in custody. This turned out to be an identity theft/fraud issue that has extensive and large ties beyond local. To allow integrity for the investigation, I have been asked to not yet disclose too many details until the report is made public. I however feel obliged to keep the TexAgs community updated because of the great help you have provided. Awesome job of the LEOs!
Some good tech available to us all (in addition to cameras) was used in the stake-out/bust, which I look forward to sharing when the full details are exposed.
And yes, we will be throwing every legal asset we can at this to shake things up for this criminal organization and hopefully spare some pain for some others who would otherwise have to deal with the nasty consequences of having their identity stolen from these folks.
For those that were asking, we use the Arlo Pro 2's cameras (they record in 1080p). They just released a newer version called the Arlo Ultra which is 4k and also zooms in on license plates. They would have helped, but are a little pricey and besides, in the end, TexAgs came in to save the day!
THANK YOU!!!
-Mike
--------------------
UPDATE 3/27/19 5pm-ish: An investigation with the local authorities is in progress today. In order to ensure they avoid tip-offs, I have removed the OP temporarily and will restore as soon as the subject is detained, hopefully today. Thank you so much for the amazing help!
My apologies for the delay as the investigation continues, but I wanted to provide an update to you all because the community had been so helpful in catching this guy.
Crime: Package and identity theft, etc.
Summary:
In the last week of March 2019, our security cameras kept catching a man taking packages off our porch in south College Station. On the third attempt, the majestic Brazos County Sheriff setup a sting and caught the guy. Prior to the arrest, a tip was made privately from a TexAgs member of who identified the perpetrator from the video footage which gave the LEOs a head start.
Perpetrator: David Anthony Slafka
The details:
It turns out this man David Slafka was part of a larger group that steals identities, purchases goods under their credit, has the items shipped to the victims' house while tracking FedEx and UPS so as to be able to quickly obtain the package. They then ship the stolen goods off to the part of the larger group, likely in exchange for payment. In my case, David applied for and used my credit for purchase of electronics like iPhones and computers from Dell, AT&T, Sprint, etc. I am not the only victim in the Brazos Valley from Mr Slafka's actions.
Implications:
My credit has been tarnished and I have received statements from these companies. I am working to repair my credit and undo this mess but this will take some time. Mr Slafka has not been as cooperative with officials as we had hoped and was released on bond after a few nights stay in jail.
Other comments:
I don't know how he stole my identity because as I mentioned, Mr Slafka has resisted to reveal this during the ongoing investigation. Under good advice, it is recommended that I not disclose much more information but I do believe it is helpful to keep the community in the loop as to what happened and how grateful we are for the many people who helped us catch this man. I wish I had the hours of time back that I have and will have to spend in cleaning up this mess, but I also know that much time was saved by the TexAgs community and Sheriffs involved. I also have to thank today's easy-to-use technology (Arlo cameras) and UPS "Live Tracking" (cool tracking of the packages prior to delivery).
Thank you all for your kind help in catching this guy and God bless!
Mike
Video clips combined: http://mhnatt.s3.amazonaws.com/package.mov
--------------------
UPDATE 3/27/19 8:30pm-is: Suspect is in custody. This turned out to be an identity theft/fraud issue that has extensive and large ties beyond local. To allow integrity for the investigation, I have been asked to not yet disclose too many details until the report is made public. I however feel obliged to keep the TexAgs community updated because of the great help you have provided. Awesome job of the LEOs!
Some good tech available to us all (in addition to cameras) was used in the stake-out/bust, which I look forward to sharing when the full details are exposed.
And yes, we will be throwing every legal asset we can at this to shake things up for this criminal organization and hopefully spare some pain for some others who would otherwise have to deal with the nasty consequences of having their identity stolen from these folks.
For those that were asking, we use the Arlo Pro 2's cameras (they record in 1080p). They just released a newer version called the Arlo Ultra which is 4k and also zooms in on license plates. They would have helped, but are a little pricey and besides, in the end, TexAgs came in to save the day!
THANK YOU!!!
-Mike
--------------------
UPDATE 3/27/19 5pm-ish: An investigation with the local authorities is in progress today. In order to ensure they avoid tip-offs, I have removed the OP temporarily and will restore as soon as the subject is detained, hopefully today. Thank you so much for the amazing help!