By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish authorities arrested a Destrehan man who allegedly stole the identity of a Hahnville man in an effort to pay a large cell phone bill according to a release from the Sheriff’s Office

Benjamin Dewey, 47, of 283 Meadows Drive, was booked on charges of identity theft over $1,000 after he allegedly used electronic funds belonging to a 53-year-old Hahnville man to pay a past due cell phone bill of about $4,000, said Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office. Yoes said the incident began sometime in June 2008.

“Investigators went through the cell phone provider to identify the perpetrator,” Yoes said. “We have not determined how the identity information was obtained. We have no information that indicates that either party knew each other prior to the incident.”

Dewey, who was arrested Monday, was booked into the Nelson Coleman Correctional Facility in Killona. He is being held on a $10,000 bond set by Judge Lauren Lemmon.