This Christian Not His Brother's Identity Keeper

If at first Eric Christian didn't succeed in identity theft by trying to open a bank account in his brother Thomas' name, he tried, tried again—10 times since Dec. 27, according to Darien police.

According to the police account, the tenth time was a charm—for law enforcement.

Darien police gave this account of the matter:

At one area bank after another for the past seven months or so, Eric Christian, 28, of Amber Drive, Norwalk, tried to open a bank account, claiming to be his brother, Thomas. Each time, bank employees refused him.

By Jan. 24, a Bank of Darien employee told police a man was trying to open a fraudulent checking account under Thomas Christian's name. The bank had received notice for that name since the real Thomas Christian was known to be a victim of identity theft. The man left the bank after the employee refused to open an account for him.

A police investigation determined that the person trying to open bank accounts in Thomas' name was his brother, Eric. Police didn't say how they determined that.

Eric Christian had been arrested previously on charges including identity theft, criminal impersonation, larceny and violation of probation.

At some point, police applied for and received a warrant for Eric Christian's arrest on identity theft and second-degree forgery charges.

Police eventually caught up with Eric Christian when they received a call from Jail authorities telling him that Christian was there. He was being held after an arrest on an unrelated charge.

On Saturday, police took Christian into custody, processed his arrest and released him on a $50,000 bond. Christian is to appear July 31 in state Superior Court in Stamford.