A New York man who had been running from police for about a year was arrested while vacationing at Disney World after an investigator in his case spotted him, according to investigators.
A federal postal inspector, Jeff Andre, was at Disney World in October when he spotted Quashon Burton, 32, who was on the run from police for a year.
Investigators say Burton was implicated in an identity theft scheme to steal $150,000 from pandemic loans, according to investigators.
“In order to carry out his scheme, Quashon Burton fraudulently obtained and used names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of at least four people,” court documents said.
Burton was charged with conspiracy to steal government funds, theft of government funds, and aggravated identity theft, court documents said.
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Officers from the US Postal Inspection Service attempted to arrest Burton, at his home in Brooklyn, new York, in November 2021, but to no avail.
According to investigators, officers attempted to arrest the man at his 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 Postal Inspector 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.
“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.”
The Daily Beast reported that after the deputy got 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.
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, calling Burton an “extreme” flight risk.
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