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Canadian woman on expired visa caught with a dozen fake IDs, Florida police say
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A Canadian woman arrested in Florida last week wasn’t lying when she told deputies that she didn’t have her ID on her. But Bryce Haileigh Swanson was less forthcoming about the 12 fake IDs police allegedly found in her trunk, ones they said she admitted using to get jobs at strip clubs throughout the U.S.
The 28-year-old from an undisclosed address in Canada was charged with the fraudulent use of personal information (over $5,000) of 10 but less than 20 victims, giving a false name to deputies who stopped her car in Tampa and not having a valid driver’s licence.
As a result of overstaying her visa, Swanson is being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer at a county jail, according to court records obtained by National Post.
Her traffic stop and arrest last Wednesday night were captured in bodycam footage shared on social media by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The officer tells Swanson that he’s pulled her over because her taillights aren’t on and the light over her licence plate is also out.
“It’s completely dark back there,” he notes, asking if she has her licence.
“I don’t. Honestly, my boyfriend is supposed to meet me over there and he’s supposed to come get the car from me,” she replies.
The officer clarifies that she does possess a licence, and she confirms it’s not with her and that the vehicle was rented by her boyfriend.
The roughly 90-second clip cuts ahead to Swanson saying she has a New York State licence and providing a false name of Brianna Valenzuela.
The arresting officer, in his affidavit, said the name provided was linked to a traffic offence-related warrant in Miami-Dade County, but he couldn’t verify the woman’s identity as supplied.
The video cuts ahead again to her saying she lives in New York, but is staying at an Airbnb while visiting friends in Florida.
The officer interjects with, “Okay, so you don’t have a New York ID at all?
“No,” she replies.
The clip cuts ahead again to Swanson being asked to step out of the car as the officer says her “story is not making a lot of sense.”
“You say you live in New York currently, right,” he asks, drawing her agreement, “so how do you have no ID from New York?”
“I’ve never had a driver’s license or anything,” she replies and confirms she has nothing in the vehicle with her name on it.
The next cut shows more officers standing next to her open trunk, thumbing through the ID cards and placing her under arrest.
Of the dozen cards, 11 were Pennsylvania driver’s licences, one was from Georgia and all of them “contained the same photograph of the defendant, but each with different names and birthdays associated with them,” according to the affidavit.
It was only after being detained that Swanson gave police her real identity, which was later confirmed via photograph on her passport. After being read her rights, police allege she admitted to overstaying her visa, “and had been using various fraudulent driver’s licences to gain employment at various strip clubs around the country. She has also never possessed a valid driver’s license.”
Records indicate Swansonn is being held at the Orient Road Jail. Should ICE drop the detainer, she will have to remain in Hillsborough County after release from custody on a bond set at US$17,000.
National Post has contacted Global Affairs Canada for more information.
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