This Driver Allegedly Gave Westbrook, Maine, Police a False Name, and It Didn’t Go Well

It's pretty much a good rule of thumb. When you get pulled over by the police you give your real name. Now, don't get me wrong. There have been plenty of occasions (not law-enforcement related) when I have given my friend's name and not mine. But those situations were pretty much all in college and in bars and I would rather not get into that today.  Last week someone was pulled over by our heroes at the Westbrook Police Department. This guy went with the "different name" strategy and it did not work out.

From the Westbrook PD Facebook Page: 

On Friday night close to Midnight, an officer observed a vehicle speeding 51 mph on Main Street. The officer stopped the car for the speeding violation. The driver claimed to not have identification but provided a name to the officer. Dispatch checked the name, and found that the person had a warrant for their arrest. The officer arrested the suspect. The suspect then told the officer he had given him a false name. After investigation, it was discovered that the suspect's real name had a revoked driver's license and he was on probation. He still went to jail anyway. Falsely using the name of a wanted person proved to not be the best strategy...

There are so many holes in this fake name strategy. Two big takeaways for you:

1) Don't speed. Especially if you have a revoked license. My God, if I figure out my car has missed an inspection date I usually drive 10 Miles per hour UNDER the speed limit.

2) Don't give your fake name as someone who has a warrant out for their arrest. Pick a more upstanding citizen if you can.

Let's be careful out there!