Identity theft victim can't get license

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - A Portsmouth man says someone stole his identity, and now he can't get a driver's license.

Alfonso Reynolds believes someone stole his personal papers after he left them in a broken down truck four years ago. He had charges placed against him for crimes he didn't commit.

"This is a Nissan 88 pickup and she starts up," he said. A friend gave Alfonso Reynolds the vehicle, but he can't use it without a driver's license. Someone stole his identity, had felony charges placed against his name and he had to prove otherwise.

"I thought once the judge take and say that the case is dismissed then everything in a week or two, or a day or two should be dismissed," he said. "The same person that put that on the computer should be able to touch that same button to take it off the computer. It don't take no four years to do that."

But that's exactly how long a frustrated Reynolds contends it's been.

"I can't get my driver's license because it's still on my record. I call, sometimes weekly, sometimes I give it a couple of weeks. Everybody tells me they went as far as they can go. It's a slow process," he said.

His records show that the charges were dismissed. And WAVY.com spent more than an hour calling and talking to people at DMV, state police and the courts in Virginia Beach where the charges were filed.

"I'm not a young person," Reynolds said. "My wife is very sick. I have to go to work everyday, rain, snow, sleet, whatever the weather. For four years I've been catching the bus back and forth."

Back and forth is where this ordeal has taken him, and now he just wants his name and his life back before he turns 61 next month.