Police: Salesman bought truck with stolen ID

October 22, 2012, 9:00 pm by James Walker and Alexandria Randolph

George Thibodaux

A former Burnet car salesman has been arrested and is being held in the county jail on charges he used an ex-customer’s personal information to purchase a pickup truck at a Marble Falls dealership and an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) in Palestine in east Texas.

George Tolbert Thibodaux, 32, was arrested in Orange County, Texas Oct. 17 by Texas Rangers.

Thibodaux was later transferred to Burnet, where he is being held in lieu of $300,000 bond, charged with the third-degree felony of providing a False Statement to Obtain Credit or Property.

Information gathered in the investigation that led to Thibodaux’s arrest could support multiple charges when it is presented to a Burnet County Grand Jury, police said.

A report by Steven Eckstein, chief of detectives with the Marble Falls Police Department, said police received a report in April from a resident of Caldwell County – south of Austin – that her identity had been used to buy a truck without her permission.

When the victim attempted to purchase a new car, she discovered that the credit limit on her card was insufficient, the police statement said.

Believing that to be incorrect, she reviewed her credit report and alerted police.

Police said their investigation revealed that Thibodaux was the person who sold the victim and her husband a car in 2009 when he was a salesman at another Austin area dealership, Eckstein wrote in the police statement.

For more of this story, see Tuesday's Highlander.