A Florida man was arrested in Colorado on Friday after attempting to assume the identity of Chad Johnson and go on a $18,000 shopping spree at a downtown Louis Vuitton store.
The Aspen Times reports that Mervin Cabe of Miami told employees that he was Chad Johnson at the time of purchase. According to the affidavit from the incident, Louis Vuitton’s policy is that customers have a “profile id” and know the phone number used to establish the account to make a purchase.
The report goes on to say that despite being unable to correctly provide the account’s phone number, and giving a credit card that was twice declined, Cabe was permitted to purchase $18,548 worth of merchandise using an Apple Pay account on his cell phone. Unbeknownst to Cabe, the cashier was in the process of alerting police officials who arrived before he left.
After much discussion Cabe reportedly told a sergeant on the scene,
“You’re going to have to take me … to jail. I’ve done something bad.”
Cabe was charged with identity theft and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, both felonies.
Johnson made light of the arrest on his twitter account.
Still confused as to why he’d use my identity & I’m known for being cheap & wearing low end clothing. https://t.co/dq6koBZ1He
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) July 18, 2017