Police: Student arrested for fake ID after traffic stop
A Boca Raton police officer saw David Santi-Barkus had a second Florida license in his wallet.
Photo Courtesy of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
February 17, 2017
For David Santi-Barkus, a $40 fake licence cost him a night in Palm Beach County Jail.
Santi-Barkus, a 20-year-old Florida Atlantic student, was pulled over Mon. Feb.13, by a Boca Raton Police Department officer at 500 NW 20th Street due to a broken taglight on his car, which is used to illuminate licence plates.
The University Village Apartments resident went to give his license for identification when the officer noticed a second Florida driver’s license in his wallet, Boca police said. He initially said that it was just another licence, but then revealed it was fake when further questioned.
Santi-Barkus told the officer that if he wanted, he could throw out the license and said that he used the licence to “buy alcohol” and “go to clubs,” according to the report.
After being processed on a third-degree felony charge of possessing a fake Florida drivers licence at the Boca Raton Police Station, Santi Barkus was sent to Palm Beach County jail. He was released Tuesday at 3:43 a.m. on a $3,000 bond.
Ryan Lynch is the editor in chief of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @RyanLynchwriter.
Ronald Jones • May 21, 2020 at 3:23 pm
Take this off.
The Power • Oct 7, 2017 at 11:27 pm
Wow I actually had David in my Calculus 2 class that semester! I thought I knew him pretty well, but obviously I do not if I did not even know about this lol
Tyler • Mar 8, 2017 at 10:11 pm
In this circumstance the officer doesn’t need “special permission” to investigate private belongings. The officer clearly saw a second ID which would obviously raise red flags because what person has two IDS unless one is fake? That being said the officer has every right to further investigate because he has probable cause. The man also admitted it was fake giving the officer authority to act accordingly.
Arianna • Feb 18, 2017 at 5:45 am
How come, I mean can the police officer just grab his wallet and take it from him? He didn’t even use it. Don’t you need to have a special permission to access private belongings as a police officer? However, it seems that the simple possession of a copyrighted government document is or can be already illegal, BUT there is a legal option in doing this –(fake id website removed) actually offers legal fake ID cards. I think that’s a good solution and will save you from such troubles.