CHICAGO -- Police have found personal information on White
Sox slugger Jim Thome and Mets outfielder Moises Alou at the home
of a man charged with identity theft.
David Dright, 38, faces 27 counts of identity theft involving
"ordinary people" who live in Lake County outside Chicago, said
Patricia Fix, chief deputy of the high-tech crime unit for the Lake
County state's attorney's office.
Fix said a search of Dright's home Tuesday turned up personal
information on retired and current ball players, including
Chicago's Thome and New York's Alou. He's suspected of stealing the
identities of almost 90 players, Lake County authorities said.
The information apparently came from trash bins outside
Northbrook, Ill.-based SFX Baseball Inc., a sports agency headed by
Pat Rooney and Fern Cuza that represents major and minor league
players.
Dright allegedly went into trash bins outside SFX and took the
personal information, Fix said. Evidence was found inside Dright's
apartment after another man complained that Dright stole his
identity, she said.
"Fortunately, it does not appear that any of our clients have
been adversely affected," SFX General Counsel Robert Greenwald
said in a statement issued Wednesday evening. "We will continue to
work to ensure that no identities were compromised."
Bond was set Wednesday at $250,000. Dright is in custody in the
Lake County Jail, in northeastern Illinois, and it was not
immediately clear whether he had an attorney.
The alleged victim who first complained lives in Lincolnshire in
Lake County. Lincolnshire police were helped in their investigation
by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Fix
said.
Evidence found in Dright's home included Social Security
numbers, dates of birth, canceled paychecks, obituaries and infant
death records.
Charges related to the baseball players would have to come from
the counties where they live, Fix said. The police are contacting
all the potential victims, she said.