Felony charges against an Arapaho, Wyoming, man quadrupled this week when investigators found evidencd he’d tricked jail deputies into thinking he was someone else, court documents say.
John Bushyhead, 43, was charged Monday in Douglas Circuit Court with one count of forgery, which is punishable by up to 10 years and $10,000 in fines — plus a count of identity theft (same maximum penalty), perjury (up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines) and police interference (up to one year and $1,000).
Employees at First Northern Bank in Douglas called Douglas Police Department officers the afternoon of Dec. 18 over concerns that a man and woman were trying to cash a fraudulent check, says an affidavit by Douglas Police Sgt. Willis Knight.
A man authorities now believe to be Bushyhead was trying to cash a $33,023.75 check, other court documents indicate. The company that issued the check said the amount was fraudulent, and the person for whom it was intended told police he or she never received the check, the documents say.
But the man trying to cash the check, now believed to be Bushyhead, signed it “Vernaldo Dodge” and supplied Vernaldo Dodge’s Social Security card, Knight wrote.
When he was arrested on suspicion of check forgery, the affidavit says, Bushyhead told jail deputies and others that he was Dodge. He filled out an application for public defender, and had it notarized, under Dodge’s name as well, wrote Knight.
Not A Match
Knight scrutinized “Dodge’s” identity, his affidavit indicates. He interviewed the inmate, checked his face against a driver’s license and determined “Dodge” was actually Bushyhead, the sergeant wrote.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation also ran a fingerprints check on the inmate and found that his fingerprints, taken Dec. 18 at the Converse County Detention Center, matched prior prints from Bushyhead, the affidavit says.
Wrong Guy
Meanwhile, the Converse County Attorney’s Office had already filed a charge against Dodge for forgery.
But on Tuesday, Chief Deputy Attorney Shawn Wilde asked the court to dismiss that charge, saying it was filed against the wrong person.
“The state believes that a Mr. John Michael Bushyhead Jr. impersonated Vernaldo Dodge and was charged with crimes committed while impersonating Vernaldo Dodge," says Wilde’s motion to dismiss the case. “Mr. Bushyhead has been separately charged and it is in the best interest of justice to dismiss this case.”
The judge granted Wilde’s request the same day.
Dodge could not be reached Friday via the cellphone number in his court file.
Bushyhead stands 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 175 pounds and was born in 1981, whereas Dodge stands 5-foot-10, weighs 211 pounds and was born in 1977, the court files say.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
