[UPDATE August 3] Motorcyclist Killed in Accident on Broadway Misidentified Because Carrying Stolen ID
A motorcyclist killed in an accident earlier today was originally identified as Charles Roybal III. According to the California Highway Patrol, “lt has now been determined that the identification located with the rider had been stolen. At approximately 8:25 PM, the Humboldt County Coroner‘s Office provided confirmation to CHP that 33 year old Dustin Maurice Finson was the person killed in this collision.
UPDATE August 3: CHP Press release:
On 05/02/2018 the Humboldt Area CHP issued a press release relating to a fatal motorcycle collision in Eureka, CA. In that press release, a stolen identification card located at the scene led investigators to misidentify the rider of the motorcycle as Charles Roybal III. Later that day, the rider was positively identified as Dustin Finson. The California Highway Patrol would like to clarify that Mr. Finson is not a suspect in the theft of Mr. Roybal’s identification. The Humboldt Area CHP extends their sincerest condolences to the family of Mr. Dustin Finson.
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Wow just wow. He must been a pretty good facial match too to have this happen. Don’t they do other stuff like fingerprints before releasing identity? Humbling for the Coroners office?
Fingerprints? A real crime scene unit in Humboldt county? Yeah, ok.
Omg. Let’s just roll fingerprints on the dead guy and in 5 weeks we might know who he is. How bout don’t keep stolen I’d cards. Reality check.
OMG reality check, yes. Publicly misidentifying deceased persons makes a reasonable person question the process. What about visual identification by next of kin?
Usually that is done before a death certificate is issued, after notification. The call comes from the police or whatever official and you are asked to come and verify identity But the initial report contains what information they can get that allows officials to call the presumed next of kin. Lots of Jane and John Does in the world because the officials couldn’t even find enough to start.
So what ever is in his pocket it who he is then ?
No Willy, a reasonable person does not question the whole process. A reasonable person realizes police are not rolling DNA Labs. Reasonable people think police look at the id and other information in the driver’s wallet and go from there.
We use it as a reminder that we have no control
If the guy has a stolen ID, how is it the government’s fault to be wrong at first? They caught it on further investigation. Any harm done is the decedent’s fault. I don’t buy the idea that someone is automatically sanctified just because they died.
He didn’t still it. Dustin is a good man and would never steal from anyone. [edit] Let’s not make Dustin out to be bad when he wasn’t
Thw coroners office went from the info provided by the CHP- so blame them if that is what you choose. The man might have been bringing the card to the policw station? Noone knows the full story.
Exactly. He died. He had family and loved ones. Who knows the story of the ID. Does it really matter at this point? Blessings to everyone involved. Tragic story. Lives changed forever.
Yeah, I heard that too. He was probably also doing volunteer work for the Salvation Army and raising money for Narcanon of Humbold
Samantha Hanna threw the stolen ID at my brothers body.
What? If the decedent was bringing the ID to the police, then he would have had his real ID on his person also and that would be an obvious tip-off to authorities. Under the circumstances the situation looks shady.
Samantha Hanna threw the ID at my brothers body
I was told by Arcata police they do not run fingerprints, “we’re not setup for that”. Not sure about eureka
Funny, they rolled my fingerprints at the station when I was applying for a criminal background clearance for a job requiring it, then sent them in and 10 days later– viola! The FBI, state and county cleared me… sure seems like they can run fingerprints.
Ten. Days. Later. That’s a long time to determine the identity of a dead person.
They don’t have instant fingerprint processing for identification. Few places do. It’s not like on TV where they scan them in to a computer and all the sudden a big, flashy display tells them who the person is.
TEN DAYS. Is Mercury retrograde again? Wow.
They paste their pictures onto the stolen ID’s. It’s quite a racket. (in the movies anyway, which follows real life more often than we would like to think).
We drove by this it was horrible, the worst thing I’ve ever seen.😞 prayers for the family.
So he was a criminal with a stolen ID??
Sure, the dead man was a criminal with a stolen ID. Feel better?
Remember in this Country we are innocent until proven guilty. Maybe he found and intended to return it.
No Samantha Hanna threw the stolen ID at his body when she took off.
Samantha hanna had th stolen ID and threw it at my brothers body and then proceeded to drive off.
So incredibly sad for everyone.
I can’t imagine the snafu this caused did they notify the guy on the stolen id’s next of kin?
Yeah, it was on an earlier thread here… sister of the supposed deceased, Charles Roybal III, wrote to Kym saying, “Wait a minute, i just talked to my brother, he’s quite alive.” Omigosh, imagine the terror of thinking that had happened… then the relief of finding it wasn’t so. Next of Kin had to have been notified before the initial Coroner’s Report came out with Roybal’s name on it, i guess, but this woman immediately learned that it wasn’t true.
I know Charlie and I was talking to him around 4:00 and he was alive and well. I didn’t see an apology to Charlie’s family for scaring the heck out of them. Sad for everyone involved. I’m glad your ok Charles
Assuming that the only ID on the man was the wrong one, it was totally understandable although I’m sure the officials were very sorry to have caused such stress as it did cause.
So sad. A parents nightmare. And then find out they are ok. My prayers go out to all the families and friends. And all the first responders. Love to all
Channel 3 news at 6 said it was a Harley that wrecked. More bad info to worry friends and family….and their motto is ” get the facts right”…yeah right.
News Channel 3’s motto is the Spirit of the North Coast. Fox news has the “get the facts right” motto and they got the information wrong as well because the official press release stated the same thing. In this day of instant news…these things are going to happen due to the public demand and folks posting stuff from their cell phones. Who expects a victim to have a stolen ID? Was he disfigured in the crash? Did he look similar to the stolen ID picture? No public organization goes into this trying to knowingly spread misinformation. But when a news cycle that used to be 24 hrs shortens to 15 minutes…this is going to happen.
Hello and I miss you on the news. Hope you are enjoying retirement.
But the news release never said Harley. It’s easy enough to walk over to the motorcycle and read the make off of it to not worry people about it..
Theives suck and deserve whatever bad Sh!t comes there way…. I belive its called Karma
Does the grim reaper check IDs? Maybe it was his mistake
Wouldn’t that be something.
Thank you for reporting the news thank you to CHP you’re doing a fine job nobody’s perfect God be with you
I heard he had found the id, and was bringing it in to town to return it. No one knows the facts, unless you were him. Sorry to the family and friends of the man who lost his life. That intersection should be made a right turn only. I have seen many close calls there
that sounds about right. Charles license is suspended anyway and has a criminal record. The deceased is a Bruins fan from NH that seems like a standup guy.
What does that really have to do with anything? Pretty superficial.
it has to do with “I doubt it was stolen”. if it was the other way around, I would say Charles had a stolen ID.
It’s my brother and Samantha hanna threw the ID at my brothers body and took off.
Probably will be soon
Samantha hanna threw the ID at my brothers body after taking off from the scene.
To set things straight. Dustin did not have the ID of Charles Royball III on him. The officers found Charles ID lying on the street some where nearby and assumed it was Dustin. At the time of the accident Dustin had his ID on him. They failed to look at it. Dustin was a good hearted person and please have respect for him and his loved ones at this time .
Thank you. Everyone quick to assume. My prayers are with his family and friends.
That makes sense, I was wondering how they figured out who it really was so fast!
Police: Hi, are you the immediate family of Charles Roybal? Yeah, well he tragically died in a motorcycle accident downtown. Family: looks around.. no, he’s right here, would you like to talk to him? Awkward
Apparently the ID was laying in the street, and the CHP assumed it was the drivers. They did not even check his wallet. so sad. RIP Dustin. Prayers to your girl, your family and friends
not to be too morbid but some of you apparently don’t know what happens when you wreck on a motorcycle at a decent speed. I doubt you’d want to go fishing around in his pockets either, if you can find them. motorcycles are a great deal of fun but unfortunately this is the end game for a high percentage of riders. life is worth more than that.