Man Arrested for Posing as Chad Johnson While Trying to Buy $18,000 in Louis Vuitton Products
A 25-year-old Florida man was arrested Friday in Colorado after trying to use former NFL receiver Chad Johnson’s identity to make an $18,000 purchase at a Louis Vuitton store, according to the Aspen Times.
Police say Mervin Cabe and two others apparently pulled items off the store shelves at random at the Louis Vuitton store in Aspen, Colo. The items totaled $18,548 and the credit card Cabe tried to use to pay was declined. He then successfully used an Apple Pay account on his phone but Louis Vuitton requires a “profile ID” to complete a transaction. At that point, Cabe gave Johnson’s name but was unable to give the phone number corresponding to Johnson’s account.
“Cabe then leaned in and looked at the computer screen,” the police report says, according to the Aspen Daily News. “He pointed and said, ‘Yeah, that’s the one, Chad Johnson. That’s me.’”
Though the clerk proceeded with the purchase, she also called police, who arrived before Cabe left the store. His story was inconsistent and he was unwilling to show police the credit card number associated with the Apple Pay account. Cabe maintained that he was Chad Javon Johnson but told the cops he was born in 1991. Johnson was born in 1978.
Cabe eventually admitted to police that he’d done something wrong. “You’re going to have to take me home … to jail … I’ve done something bad,” Cabe said, according to an officer’s affidavit.
Cabe was booked on felony counts of identity theft and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device. He’s due in court on Aug. 7.
