Fake IDs Found in Wilton May Indicate Underage Drinking

On March 7, the (WPD) obtained an apparently lost wallet found on Rte. 7. Inside it were three Connecticut driver’s licenses; two were forged to make the youthful offender, whose real license was also in the wallet, appear older than 21, according to police reports. 

The incident comes on the heels of a hotly-debated artcle involving broken up by the WPD at a Wilton residence in . The article struck a nerve with Wiltonians and generated 150 comments from Wilton Patch readers. The WPD sent out a press release delineating Conn. laws for underage drinking shortly after the article's publication. 

Wilton Police charged the 17-year-old Wilton male with third-degree forgery and released him on a promise to appear in court. While not confirmed, police said they suspect that these fake IDs may have been created in order to purchase alcohol. The 17-year-old has not been related to the house party incident. 

Fake IDs and alcohol taken from the house

While fake IDs have perhaps always been a common way to obtain alcohol from bars and merchants, they aren’t the primary way for youths to access booze.

“Most youth get their liquor from other sources, such as their own homes. It’s usually liquor that is legally purchased by their parents” which is often in a location that is “unlocked and available that they will share with themselves and their friends,” said John Suchy, the Director of the Liquor Control Division of the State of Conn. Suchy is also a former Norwalk Police Officer, where he served for 27 years before retiring. He has lived in Wilton since 1994.

Fake ID technology has advanced as well, and with the internet, it’s easier to obtain photo-realistic copies of state driver’s licenses.

“It’s my understanding that there are websites that purport that they will give very accurate representations of driver’s licenses, including Conn. licenses,” said Suchy.

Even the barcode on the back of the license, which is scanned to determine validity, can be bypassed.

If they “get the bar code right, it can pass through,” said Captain John Lynch of the WPD.

The IDs in the found wallet had the youth’s picture and name, but a different address and date of birth, said Lynch.

According to an article written last August in the Chicago Tribune, there are websites in China which sell and ship fake IDs, something which has become a growing problem for authorities. The article states that Chicago authorities seized over 1,700 fake IDs during the first half of 2011, as “compared to about 10 per month” in 2010.

In an April article of last year, the Fairfield Citizen reported a similar problem at Fairfield University in Conn., where police arrested a student in 2006 for running his own fake-ID shop to sell to his college peers.

But perhaps underage drinking can best be circumvented at home.

“Use common sense. Know where your kids are going, know if there is going to be an adult home and call ahead to confirm. Tell your kids that you don’t approve of underage drinking,” said Suchy.