Disney World arrest: A fugitive from New York was caught after a federal inspector noticed him whereas on trip in Florida

CNN
 — 

Federal official Jeff Andre was vacationing at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom close to Orlando final month when he noticed a person who appeared acquainted.

The person resembled Quashon Burton, 31, who authorities say went on the run in New York Metropolis final November after allegedly utilizing fraudulent paperwork to acquire coronavirus reduction help.

A legal criticism alleged Burton stole the identities of a minimum of 4 folks to get practically $150,000 in authorities loans aimed toward struggling companies throughout the pandemic.

Andre was accustomed to the suspect. As an inspector with the US Postal Inspection Service, he was concerned within the case and had signed Burton’s arrest warrant.

And, in an unbelievable stroke of luck, the fugitive he’d been in search of in New York appeared to even be vacationing on the identical day on the similar Florida theme park.

Andre sprang into motion.

Andre alerted Disney World safety, who in flip notified the native Orange County Sheriff’s Workplace. And so started a course of that ended with Burton behind bars – all due to the 2 males’s overlapping holidays at “the happiest place on Earth.”

A 2021 legal criticism – signed by Andre – laid out the main points within the case in opposition to Burton.

Burton was indicted on federal prices final December, together with theft of presidency funds, conspiracy to steal authorities funds and aggravated identification theft.

In its criticism, the US Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York accused him of stealing victims’ identities to obtain the fraudulent loans and alleged he tried to transform a number of the funds into postal cash orders.

Billions in pandemic fraud requires “100 years” of investigative work

09:25

– Supply:
CNN

“The defendant used fraudulent e-mail accounts, pretend identification paperwork, financial institution accounts and financial institution playing cards within the names of different people … in a fashion that created a posh net of identities that made his crimes tough to analyze,” federal courtroom paperwork mentioned.

In an e-mail to CNN, Burton’s attorneys, Lauren Di Chiara and Harvey Fishbein, declined to remark or give details about his plea.

An arrest warrant for Burton was issued in November final yr, and regulation enforcement officers went to his final recognized tackle in Brooklyn. He was nowhere to be discovered. They returned to the house twice and spoke to Burton’s mom, who instructed them her son wouldn’t be surrendering, federal courtroom paperwork mentioned.

For months Burton allegedly used pretend identities, together with throughout his go to to Disney World, making it tough to trace him down, authorities mentioned.

However on October 20 at round 3:05 p.m., Andre acknowledged him at Animal Kingdom and notified Disney safety that there was a fugitive within the park. Disney authorities then alerted the county sheriff’s workplace, telling them that Burton had left the park and was ready at a close-by bus cease with two members of the family.

A deputy approached him on the bus cease and requested for identification, and Burton questioned why he wanted to offer it, the Orange County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned in an incident report.

When the deputy tried to handcuff Burton, he stiffened his arms and refused to cooperate, and the deputy took him to the bottom and secured him, the incident report mentioned. Burton was charged with resisting an officer with out violence.

Even after fingerprints confirmed his identification, he insisted he was not Burton, federal paperwork mentioned.

Burton has since been transferred to federal custody. Federal prosecutors have argued in opposition to his launch on bail, saying he “poses an excessive threat of flight.”