MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A Miami man was arrested Tuesday after he fraudulently purchased a 2025 Chevrolet Corvette last month by using the identity of another individual who he didn’t know, authorities said.
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According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Anthony Jerome Thompson, 59, went to the Bomnin Chevrolet dealership, located at 8455 S. Dixie Highway, on March 21, and purchased the blue Corvette for $98,489.29 while using the identity of another man, James Earle Decker.
Deputies said the victim, who lives in Brandon, Florida and does not know Thompson, called the dealership on April 16 and advised employees that he believed they had made a clerical error and accidentally registered a Corvette in his name as he received a toll violation notice for a Corvette purchased from their dealership.
According to the arrest report, the dealership’s chief operating officer then contacted a sergeant from MDSO for assistance.
The sergeant said he discovered the Florida driver’s license provided to the dealership by the suspect was fraudulent and learned the suspect had used the victim’s Social Security number for the credit application when purchasing the vehicle.
Deputies said the victim confirmed that he did not give anyone permission to use his identity to purchase a vehicle or any other items and said he wished to prosecute.
According to the arrest report, the dealership told the sergeant that the Corvette was equipped with LoJack and detectives were able to track the vehicle in Broward County.
Deputies with the Broward Sheriff’s Office detained two men who were found in the vehicle in Cooper City, authorities said.
According to the report, the vehicle was towed by BSO and the men told detectives that they had rented the vehicle.
Authorities said the men were released and the Corvette was given back to the dealership on April 18.
According to the report, Thompson was arrested Tuesday at his home in Miami.
He gave a full confession to a sergeant at the Northside Station, the report stated.
Thompson faces charges of organized fraud, fraudulent use of identification information, grand theft, forgery, uttering forged instruments, obtaining a vehicle by trickery, giving misleading statements for insurance purposes and possession of a stolen or fictitious driver’s license.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Thompson was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $13,000 bond.