On February 3, the man whose identity was stolen contacted the Seattle Police Department and filed an identity theft police report after learning of the vehicle purchases made in his name and unauthorized activity on his bank account.

The victim told police he was working overseas in Kuwait and had not been to the United States in over two years.

On February 21, the suspect inquired about purchasing a vehicle at another dealership, this time using another man’s identity. However, the dealership’s finance manager determined the suspect was lying about his identity and contacted this second victim about the attempted purchase.

This victim also contacted SPD to file an identity theft police report.

On February 25, the suspect contacted the Seattle Jeep dealership via text to inquire about purchasing a Tesla, again using the second victim’s name.

Two days later, he went to the dealership, wearing a wig and glasses, to finalize the purchase of the Tesla, but a sales representative told him he couldn’t take the car off the lot because he didn’t have a physical form of ID with him.

The following morning, the suspect sent a photo of a driver’s license to the sales representative. The employee could tell the ID had been altered because the fonts didn’t match, the picture appeared to be altered and the street name was misspelled.

Later that day, the sales representative called the suspect and asked him to return to the dealership. When the suspect arrived, the sales representative attempted to stop him in the showroom while they called 911. The suspect eventually became impatient and left the dealership.

Over the next two weeks, police spoke with the victims, all of whom stated that they never authorized or attempted to obtain a loan with the intent of purchasing a vehicle.

Investigators also met with employees at both dealerships who were able to pick the suspect out of a photo montage.

At approximately 9 p.m. Saturday, officers followed one of the fraudulently purchased vehicles until it pulled into a gas station on Lake City Way Northeast.

When officers moved in to make an arrest, the suspect took off and ran across the road. After a short chase on foot, police arrested the 40-year-old man for identity theft, motor vehicle theft and illegal possession of a firearm.

Police also found a firearm that the suspect discarded during the foot pursuit.

A 31-year-old woman who was in the car with the suspect was also arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle.

Both were booked into the King County Jail.

In all, the arrest of the male suspect closed five open cases for the Seattle Police Department.