I-85 Traffic Stop Ends in Forgery, Fraud Charges

A Douglasville man remains jailed without bond on more than two dozen charges that resulted from a June 15 traffic stop.

Daniel L. Cromwell, 2361 Flowerdale Court in Douglasville, was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over on I-85 northbound near Hamilton Mill Road. The driver, who was not arrested, was stopped for following another vehicle too closely. According to the police report, the officer “became suspicious of criminal activity” during the course of the traffic stop after the driver and Cromwell gave varying accounts of their travel plans.

Cromwell, who initially identified himself as Franklin Peters, gave the officer consent to search the vehicle. During the search, the officer found marijuana remnants but no other contraband. Cromwell denied having any other contraband when confronted about the marijuana.

The officer then asked for and received consent to search Cromwell’s person. During the search, the officer located a stack of Visa credit cards in each of Cromwell’s shoes. The 19 cards were issued in the names of two different individuals – Franklin Peters and Brandy Hilton. Cromwell said Hilton was his cousin and identified himself as Peters. Cromwell also had a Florida driver’s license with his picture, but the name Franklin Peters.

Upon closer examination, the officer noticed the Florida license appeared to be a fake. Once the officer confirmed no Florida license had been issued under the listed name and date of birth, he placed Cromwell under arrest. After placing Cromwell in handcuffs, the officer searched Cromwell’s wallet and found a Georgia license with Cromwell’s name and photo.  

The officer contacted Visa’s fraud department and determined that each of the cards had been cloned using a different person’s account number on each card. The officer was eventually able to make contact with victims from states including Wisconsin and Arizona.

Cromwell was charged with 19 counts of second-degree forgery, six counts of financial identity fraud and one count each of giving false information to a law enforcement officer and possession of false identification documents.

He is currently being held in the Gwinnett County Detention Center.