[UPDATE August 3] Motorcyclist Killed in Accident on Broadway Misidentified Because Carrying Stolen ID

CHP California Highway Patrol badgeA 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.

chp TC report

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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53 Comments
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Willy
Guest
Willy
5 years ago

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?

Lesha
Guest
Lesha
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

Fingerprints? A real crime scene unit in Humboldt county? Yeah, ok.

J
Guest
J
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

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.

Willy
Guest
Willy
5 years ago
Reply to  J

OMG reality check, yes. Publicly misidentifying deceased persons makes a reasonable person question the process. What about visual identification by next of kin?

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

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.

Willy
Guest
Willy
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

So what ever is in his pocket it who he is then ?

Ernestine
Guest
Ernestine
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

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

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

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.

Lori Arnold
Guest
Lori Arnold
5 years ago
Reply to  J

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

Kali
Guest
Kali
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

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.

life is good OG
Guest
life is good OG
5 years ago
Reply to  Kali

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.

J Dubbs
Guest
J Dubbs
5 years ago
Reply to  Kali

Yeah, I heard that too. He was probably also doing volunteer work for the Salvation Army and raising money for Narcanon of Humbold

Heidi finson
Guest
Heidi finson
5 years ago
Reply to  J Dubbs

Samantha Hanna threw the stolen ID at my brothers body.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago
Reply to  Kali

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.

Heidi finson
Guest
Heidi finson
5 years ago

Samantha Hanna threw the ID at my brothers body

Johnnycop
Guest
Johnnycop
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

I was told by Arcata police they do not run fingerprints, “we’re not setup for that”. Not sure about eureka

Hilary Mosher
Guest
Hilary Mosher
5 years ago
Reply to  Johnnycop

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.

No Joke
Guest
No Joke
5 years ago
Reply to  Hilary Mosher

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.

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
5 years ago
Reply to  Hilary Mosher

TEN DAYS. Is Mercury retrograde again? Wow.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Willy

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).

Lisa
Guest
Lisa
5 years ago

We drove by this it was horrible, the worst thing I’ve ever seen.😞 prayers for the family.

JRWhitmore
Guest
JRWhitmore
5 years ago

So he was a criminal with a stolen ID??

Get a grip
Guest
Get a grip
5 years ago
Reply to  JRWhitmore

Sure, the dead man was a criminal with a stolen ID. Feel better?

Willy
Guest
Willy
5 years ago
Reply to  Get a grip

Remember in this Country we are innocent until proven guilty. Maybe he found and intended to return it.

Heidi finson
Guest
Heidi finson
5 years ago
Reply to  JRWhitmore

No Samantha Hanna threw the stolen ID at his body when she took off.

Heidi finson
Guest
Heidi finson
5 years ago
Reply to  JRWhitmore

Samantha hanna had th stolen ID and threw it at my brothers body and then proceeded to drive off.

life is good OG
Guest
life is good OG
5 years ago

So incredibly sad for everyone.

Seamus
Guest
Seamus
5 years ago

I can’t imagine the snafu this caused did they notify the guy on the stolen id’s next of kin?

laura cooskey
Guest
laura cooskey
5 years ago
Reply to  Seamus

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.

Dennis
Guest
Dennis
5 years ago

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

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Dennis

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.

Troy Johnson
Guest
Troy Johnson
5 years ago

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

Ice
Guest
Ice
5 years ago

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.

Brad Curtis
Guest
Brad Curtis
5 years ago
Reply to  Ice

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.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Brad Curtis

Hello and I miss you on the news. Hope you are enjoying retirement.

Ice
Guest
Ice
5 years ago
Reply to  Brad Curtis

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..

CoveTroll
Guest
CoveTroll
5 years ago

Theives suck and deserve whatever bad Sh!t comes there way…. I belive its called Karma

Helllbilly
Guest
Helllbilly
5 years ago

Does the grim reaper check IDs? Maybe it was his mistake

gunther
Guest
gunther
5 years ago
Reply to  Helllbilly

Wouldn’t that be something.

Linda L Sherwood
Guest
Linda L Sherwood
5 years ago

Thank you for reporting the news thank you to CHP you’re doing a fine job nobody’s perfect God be with you

laya goodwyn
Guest
laya goodwyn
5 years ago

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

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago
Reply to  laya goodwyn

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.

life is good OG
Guest
life is good OG
5 years ago
Reply to  local observer

What does that really have to do with anything? Pretty superficial.

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago

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.

Heidi finson
Guest
Heidi finson
5 years ago
Reply to  local observer

It’s my brother and Samantha hanna threw the ID at my brothers body and took off.

J Dubbs
Guest
J Dubbs
5 years ago
Reply to  laya goodwyn

Probably will be soon

Heidi finson
Guest
Heidi finson
5 years ago
Reply to  laya goodwyn

Samantha hanna threw the ID at my brothers body after taking off from the scene.

Concern friend
Guest
Concern friend
5 years ago

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 .

life is good OG
Guest
life is good OG
5 years ago
Reply to  Concern friend

Thank you. Everyone quick to assume. My prayers are with his family and friends.

Just sayin
Guest
Just sayin
5 years ago
Reply to  Concern friend

That makes sense, I was wondering how they figured out who it really was so fast!

J Dubbs
Guest
J Dubbs
5 years ago

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

adam
Guest
adam
5 years ago

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

Getreal
Guest
Getreal
5 years ago

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.