A Welling man was arrested for a number of crimes, including impersonating a veteran of the U.S. armed forces.
According to the sheriff’s report, Cherokee County Undersheriff James Brown was contacted by a private investigator on July 14 in regard to stolen identity. The investigator believed the suspect was Marvin Burleson and that he lived in Welling.
On July 16, Brown, Capt. Derrick Grant and Investigator Ryan Robison went to the address to speak with Burleson, who was using the name of Luis Carrascal.
“Mr. Carrascal’s house sits on a corner lot, and as we drove up, I noticed a male subject walking to a travel trailer with no shirt on, and what looked like a pistol in his back pocket,” Brown said in the report. “We identified ourselves as the sheriff’s office and he asked us if he could take the gun back in the house. I told him no and to come to the fence, and that we needed to visit about something.”
Brown asked for some kind of identification from the man, and he provided an Oklahoma driver’s license with the name of Luis Carrascal. Authorities informed the man someone else was claiming that same name, and asked him for other documentation.
“He went into the house and retrieved a certificate of release or discharge from active duty and a copy of an honorable discharge with the name of Cpl. Luis A. Carrascal,” Brown said. “When I asked where he had served, he stated he had spent two years in Japan.”
Brown compared the signatures on the discharge document and the original Carrascal Texas driver’s license, and it matched. Burleson said he had a a birth certificate in his house, and he was told to bring to the sheriff’s office later that day.
After discussions about the tattoo and signatures on the way back to the office, Brown said the officers came to the conclusion that Carrascal/Burleson was lying.
Grant looked more into Burleson and found out he had been arrested in Oklahoma City. Robison found a Facebook profile with the name of Burleson and a photo of the man they had interviewed earlier. Dispatch checked the name and date of birth of Burleson and advised he was wanted in Texas.
“His warrant was for parole violation and he was declared a fugitive from justice. He has been a fugitive from justice since 2009,” Brown said. “I had Texas send me a picture of the fugitive, and the picture matched that of the person we interviewed and of the person using the name of Luis Carrascal.”
Burleson and his girlfriend arrived at the sheriff’s office to speak with authorities when he was taken into custody.
“We placed Mr. Burleson into custody and we told him we had a warrant out of Texas for him. He stated his name was Marvin Burleson,” Brown said.
Burleson agreed to speak with authorities and asked them to let him go because he was going to be killed when he got back to Texas. During the interview, Brown asked the man where he got the pistol, and he said he bought it at Atwood’s using the stolen identification of Carrascal.
“When he was paroled in Texas, he was taken in by the real Luis Carrascal’s mother. When she caught him stealing, she kicked him out,” Brown said.
Burleson’s girlfriend fully cooperated with CCSO and said they met in Oklahoma City. Brown advised they needed to retrieve the pistol and the woman said Burleson had other guns as well.
“On the way back to the office, we stopped at the Atwood’s in Tahlequah and was able to get the paperwork used to purchase the guns, and they were signed in the name of Luis Carrascal,” Brown said.
Burleson was taken to the Cherokee County Detention Center and booked for his warrant, several fraud charges, and convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
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