He Who Takes My Name, Takes More Than Gold

The guy in the pic (top), a lawyer, Gary Heggs--had his wallet stolen in 1971.  The guy in the other pic is Dozier Slay, Jr.  Slay came into possession of Hegg's driver's license probably following a burglary of the original thief's apartment, got that?  Okay, let me try again, Hegg's 1971 Missouri driver's license did not carry a picture of Heggs--the guy who stole his wallet, in turn had the driver's license stolen by Dozier Slay, Jr the scruffy looking guy on the right.  When police in Colorado arrested Slay for some petty crime, he had Hegg's driver's license on him and the police listed Heggs as the criminal suspect on official forms.  Got that?

The upshot for Heggs is that for 30 years, he has been dogged by the identity theft.  After his identity was stolen the neo-Heggs was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The criminal-Heggs escaped from the pen. He has never been caught.  As a result, the lawyer Gary Heggs has been arrested, taken into custody, pulled off TSA lines, repeatedly and frequently over 30 years.  The only thing the lawyer Heggs has going for him in proving his actual identity, is the absence of prison "tats," that's right the criminal-Heggs had prominent tattoos on his right arm as well as an appendectomy scar on his lower abdomen.  The real Heggs finds himself "dropping trou'" to prove he is not the escaped convict. 

The original story is at the Denver Post website.