By JOHN LYNCH

Longview architect Michael Eager can't imagine how someone could mistake his 5-foot 5 wife for a younger man of a different race who stands 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds.

But police say that man, 28-year-old Kendrick Dondray Vatin, had somehow obtained Anne Eager's stolen Texas driver’s license, and combined it with his state identity card, with his name and picture, and her address and identifying information. Jail records show Vatin does not have a driver’s license.

Michael Eager said car thieves stole his wife's purse and some CDs from their Gregg County home Dec. 10, a surprising theft because of the home's secluded location. The family's dogs were at another location at the time.

"They were very selective in what they took," he said.

Before noon on the day after the theft, someone used a credit card stolen in the break-in to run up about $4,000 in purchases at a local auto parts store, Eager said. He had already cancelled the credit cards, so the charges won't be his responsibility, but Eager said he's concerned that the thieves or other unscrupulous people might have collected other personal information in the theft.

Eager said he didn't know what had happened to his wife's license until a reporter told him Wednesday.

According to arrest reports, police found the missing license on Vatin, a convicted thief, at 3 a.m. Monday morning while investigating a suspicious two-tone black 1995 Mazda in the 1400 block of 12th Street.

When officers Sedalia Jackson and Robert Niebert ordered Vatin out of the car, what appeared to be a marijuana cigar fell out of the vehicle, the report said.

The faked identification turned up when the officers searched him, the report said.

He was charged with marijuana possession, tampering with government records and fraudulent possession of identifying information.

Vatin was released from jail shortly after his arrest after posting $3,500 bond.

Court records show Vatin has been suspected of fraud before, but not charged.

In August 2001, police seized several pieces of computer equipment worth at least $1,500 from the home of a friend of Vatin's.

The friend told police the equipment, including a printer, scanner, and digital camera, had been shipped to his home for Vatin and that he believed they were obtained illegally, court records show.

Investigators had information the equipment was obtained by "fraudulent means by a suspect named Kendrick Vatin," court records show.

An August 1997 arrest for shoplifting led to Vatin's felony conviction for habitual theft, court records show.

He grabbed 19 pieces of clothing from a store and fled in a waiting car, driven by the friend who later received the computer equipment, according to court records. The clothing was worth $893. The pair told police they needed money to pay their $55 rent, court records show.

The charge was enhanced to a felony because of two prior misdemeanor theft convictions, records show.

Sentenced to four years on probation, that sentence was revoked seven months later after he failed to perform community service and pay court-ordered fines and fees, records show. He was sentenced to a year in jail in June 1998.

Jail and police reports show Vatin has given authorities different Longview addresses as his home.

Longview, Texas News Journal February 6, 2003

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