Crime suspect used another man's name
Butler police withdrew charges late Monday against a man they said was falsely accused of crimes he didn't commit.
Police said 28-year-old Marc Latimore of Penn Township was wrongly charged by criminal summons last week when the real suspect used Latimore's name during a theft-related investigation.
Those same charges plus one more — making false reports to police to implicate another person — were filed Tuesday against Ewari W. Ellis, 36, of Butler.
Police charged Ellis by summons with false reports, theft from a vehicle and two counts each of access device fraud, theft by deception and receiving stolen property, all misdemeanors.
Police suspect Ellis stole a purse from the car of a woman who gave him a ride after she left a Butler bar in the early morning hours of Aug. 5. She did not immediately notice her purse was missing.
She apparently did not know the defendant.
The woman later discovered a debit card in her purse was used at two city stores that same day around 11 a.m.
A copy of a sales receipt from the Metro PCS store showed a $200 phone was purchased with the victim's card. Police said they believe the suspected thief gave the clerk Latimore's name when he bought the phone.
The signature on the receipt, according to charging documents, “appeared to spell out the word 'thief.'”
At the nearby Butler Beer & Tobacco store, the card was used to buy beer and cigarettes totaling $42.99. The receipt for that purchase also was signed “Thief.”
Police subsequently called the number of the newly-purchased phone paid for with the stolen debit card. The man who answered identified himself as Latimore.
The man even provided the same date of birth and address for Latimore that police have on file for him, according to charging documents. Police filed misdemeanor charges against Latimore in the form of a criminal summons, meaning he never officially was taken into custody.
On Monday, police received information that Latimore was out of state. In turn, they again called the same number to the fraudulently purchased phone.
This time, the man provided a different date of birth. Other answers apparently made police suspicious.
A detective reviewed surveillance video from the bar where the woman left with the man whom she had given the ride on Aug. 5.
That man, police said, was identified as Ellis, who was interviewed at the police station.
He admitted to using the victim's card to buy a phone, beer and cigarettes, according to charging documents. He allegedly was carrying the phone, which police seized.
He also allegedly acknowledged that he signed “thief” on the sales receipts.
“Ellis stated that he did not know 'Latimore,'” according to documents, “and just made the name up when he purchased the phone.”
Police declined to comment beyond what was in Ellis' criminal complaint.
Ellis could not be reached for comment.
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