HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A 25-year-old woman has been arrested and charged after authorities said she was attempting to lease property in both Harris and Fort Bend Counties using a stolen identity.
Kalah Flowers is charged with two counts of tampering with a government document and one charge of fraudulent use of identifying information.
The Harris County Precinct 2 Constable’s Office said they were able to piece the case together over several weeks with the help of several realtors.
The investigation started in mid-February, when native Houstonian Melissa Darlow started getting calls from Houston-area realtors.
“I wasn’t even in the process of looking for an apartment here or anywhere,” Darlow said. “It was very rattling to receive that call and that information that my identity was being used in that way.”
The New Yorker of five years didn’t know her identity had been stolen but she said six realtors reached out to verify if she truly wanted to lease their properties.
“She could see the ID that was submitted and then looking us up online, it was a different image, different person,” Darlow said.
The ID featured Darlow’s name, birthdate, and Houston address, but the photo was a woman who looked nothing like her. The signature also didn’t match.
The case landed in the hands of Harris County Precinct 2 Constable Deputy Francisca Cabral.
“It seemed like once she obtained ‘no’ from one, she would move on to another,” Cabral said. “Pretty quickly, and I have some information where she was very persistent that she wanted to move in now.”
Deputy Cabral reviewed documents provided by at least four realtors to piece together the puzzle. With information like phone number, vehicle details, and money orders, she was able to pinpoint Flowers as a suspect.
Her photo, on the realistic-appearing ID that had Darlow’s information on it, matched a recent mugshot from an unrelated Houston Police Department theft charge.
Flowers has been wanted on the three felony charges since March 19.
Deputy Cabral arrested Flowers while she was attending a criminal court hearing Wednesday on the theft charge.
“She stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, and then she just said, ‘Well, I’m going to go ahead and admit I do have a fake ID on me’,” Cabral said.
The ID didn’t have Darlow’s information on it, but rather someone else’s, and now investigators believe Flowers may be part of a larger ring of identity theft suspects with possible victims in other states.
Darlow is now dealing with credit issues. She’s worried about what could come next.
“I felt violated and fearful of how this happened and what else could happen,” Darlow said. “The fear and the unknown of where this leak came from, could it happen again? Who else has access to it? That’s really unnerving.
Darlow said she is much more active in protecting her personal information now, uses two-factor authentication, and locked her credit accounts with the three major bureaus.
Flowers is being held in the Harris County Jail. Records show her bond has not been set. She is due in court Monday.