Traffic Stop Leads to Arrest of Alleged Identity Thieves

A chance encounter on April Fool's Day led police to two people with a trove of stolen mail, fake ID cards and counterfeit checks. 

Sarah Marie Westfall, a 33-year-old Isanti woman, has been charged with identity theft, possession of stolen or counterfeit checks, and mail theft—all felonies. Her companion, 35-year-old Shane Martin Kristiansen, faces two charges for possession of stolen or counterfeit checks, one count of mail theft and a fourth charge for giving false identification to police.

The pair were apprehended on April 1, after a Burnsville police officer saw a suspicious vehicle at the Crosstown Holiday Gas Station. The car had no headlights on, though it was well after midnight. The officer trailed the car, which abruptly accelerated to 100 miles per hour. The vehicle eventually stopped after the officer activated the squad's emergency lights.

When asked for identification, the driver offered a license with "JLL's name and info on it." According to the criminal complaint, "JLL" is "an actual person," though he is not the driver, who was eventually identified as Kristiansen, a Foley man with a revoked license and an active warrant out in Morrison County, where he is wanted for yet another case of check forgery.

Kristiansen's passenger was Westfall, who was then the subject of an active warrant issued by the U.S. Marshals Service. Inside Westfall's purse officers found a medical insurance card with another person's name on it, an ID with "CP's" name on it, and two Minnesota ID cards which had Westfall's picture but the names and birth dates of two other individuals.

Kristiansen was found with two checks in his possession, made payable to him, totaling $750. One of the checks was to be drawn on the account of Grethen House 2, the outlet of a fine clothing store in Edina. Officers contacted the business and spoke with the owner, who stated that the account and routing numbers belong to the business, but the check was a counterfeit.

During a search of the car, officers also uncovered a laptop computer, printing paper, cell phones, a SIM card and number of items of opened mail. Under questioning, Westfall admitted that she uses the printer and computer to create checks using stolen identities and routing numbers.

Both Westfall and Kristiansen are well-known to investigators throughout the state and federal court system. The two have lengthy criminal records that include theft, fraud, and check forgery charges.

In 2008, the two pleaded guilty to federal identity theft charges. According to an archived article by ECM Publishers, the two committed a string of thefts from August 2006 to July 2007—stealing mail, documents from vehicles, checks, account information and identification documents from over 50 victims spread throughout Minnesota, South Dakota and Washington state. Westfall and Kristiansen used the stolen data to create counterfeit checks, thus defrauding businesses and banks out of more than $50,000.

The couple even used counterfeit checks at the Scott County Jail and the Pine County Detention Center.

In spite of their brazen behavior, the duo was not easy to catch. The 2008 case eventually involved five different law enforcement agencies, including the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force.

“It took an incredible amount of time,” Mille Lacs County Financial Crimes Investigator Jason LaSart told reporters at the time.

LaStart, who worked on the case for over a year, was himself a victim of the two, who purloined some of his mail in 2000. 

Westfall is currently in custody at the Dakota County Jail, where she has been held on a $75,000 bond. The bond will be reduced to $50,000 if she agrees to stay in Minnesota and refrain from any contact with recycling businesses. Kristiansen is also in custody, on a lesser bond: $50,000 or $30,000 if he agrees to relinquish work at recycling facilities until the case is resolved.