Cops: New York man was using stolen identification from second area man

A suspect accused of stealing a man’s identity to buy $4,000 worth of computers, gift cards and video games was arraigned Wednesday for a similar crime.

Vaughn L. Lawhorn, 46, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is charged with four counts of access device fraud and theft and two counts of identity theft and possession of an altered credit card in connection with the thefts that occurred in October.

On Oct. 28, Lawhorn was arrested at the Hempfield Best Buy as he attempted to purchase two MacBook Pros, video games and gift cards worth thousands of dollars using a Penn Township man’s identity. According to police, Lawhorn told investigators he bought the man’s identity for $100 on the internet.

According to court documents filed this week, when Lawhorn was arrested, he also had an identification card matching a North Huntingdon man.

Police allege in court papers that Lawhorn used the North Huntingdon man’s identity to buy about $3,000 worth of gift cards and items at Home Depot stores in Hempfield and North Versailles.

Lawhorn was arraigned before District Judge Wayne Gongaware and sent to the county prison, where he was originally held without bond because he was deemed a flight risk. Judge Rita Hathaway set his bond at $100,000 on Dec. 10, according to court records.