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Phoenix man arrested over ID theft of airman

Phoenix police said they arrested a man suspected of stealing the identity of an Oregon sheriff's deputy serving in Iraq.

Travelle Bradford, 31, was arrested Monday on suspicion of numerous identity theft and forgery offenses, according to a Phoenix police statement.

The statement said Bradford was taken into custody after a routine traffic stop revealed he was a suspect in an identity theft case.

Bradford is accused of using the identity of Marc Paul Griffith, 29, of Oregon, for the past two years, the release said. Griffith, a member of the Air Force, is currently serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Police did not say how Griffith’s identity was compromised.

In 2007, Griffith was denied employment by law enforcement agencies in his home state of Oregon. One investigator at the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office where Griffith is now a deputy became suspicious of the criminal history in Griffith’s background check, the release said.

That’s when the victim learned that his identity had been stolen and was being used in the Phoenix area. Griffith and his wife Rachel, 26, then contacted Phoenix Police.

According to a letter Rachel Griffith sent Monday to Phoenix police detectives, Marc Griffith had been turned down by five law enforcement agencies before a Clackamas County investigator discovered the identity theft.

“If the CCSO had turned my husband down, he was going to stop applying,” Rachel Griffith said in the letter. “He came literally one good background check away from not having his dream career.”

The identity theft significantly complicated many parts of the Griffiths’ lives, the letter said. After selling their home in 2007, they were unable to obtain a home loan and so moved into a small apartment with their three children and two dogs.

After being denied for the home loan, a copy of Marc Griffith’s credit report revealed nearly 10 false accounts including multiple cell-phone accounts, medical and utility bills, and traffic tickets, the letter said. Police said Bradford also used the identity to purchase or lease cars and rent homes.

Rachel Griffith also said new problems kept surfacing for the past two years. She quit her job to work full time on clearing her husband’s name and is still doing so today.

“We are incredibly relieved that the suspect is in custody,” she said in the letter. “We are so exhausted with this and are ready for the day when we are no longer penalized for crimes which my husband did not commit.”