Since January, a Buford man with an eye-catching name has been on the run.
Police said the man was fast — you might even call him speedy. But he could only stay on the run for so long.
The chase for 35-year-old Speedy Gonzalez ended over the weekend, but his similarities with the Looney Tunes' cartoon mouse of the same name end there. It's unlikely that "the fastest mouse in all of Mexico" has ever been accused of mail fraud.
Gonzalez faces a count of forgery, two counts of identity fraud and three counts of theft by deception, according to Gwinnett County police. Authorities arrested him Saturday at an Embassy Suites hotel at 2029 Satellite Boulevard.
The investigation began Jan. 21 when a man told police he had checks stolen from his mailbox off Lake Haven Way, according to a police incident report. The checks were supposed to be picked up by the U.S. Postal Service, but they never made it to their intended recipients.
Gonzalez is accused of stealing the checks and using them to purchase more than $3,000 worth of items from the Home Depot on Stone Mountain Highway, police said.
Gonzalez was identified as the suspect in March, with police releasing several surveillance photos of him.
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
Police caught him after a camera flagged his vehicle, allowing officers to track him to the hotel.
He was booked into the Gwinnett jail, where he remains without bond, according to jail records. It’s his 12th time being booked into Gwinnett’s jail since 2009.
Gonzalez also has outstanding warrants in Forsyth County and Opelika, Ala. Those warrants consist of more counts of forgery, identity fraud and theft.
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
These are the latest run-ins with the law for Gonzalez, who has spent nearly four years in prison since 2004, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records. His prior convictions were all out of Hall County and consist of counts of methamphetamine possession and other drug-related charges, GDC records show.
In other news:
About the Author
