A 25-year-old man was arrested for impersonating Chad Johnson, a widely known former NFL wide receiver, while trying to buy more than $18,000 in Louis Vuitton products in Aspen.
Authorities charged Mervin Cabe, of Miami, with felony identity theft and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, after claiming to Louis Vuitton employees and police that he was the football star, Aspen Police said in documents filed in Pitkin County District Court, according to The Aspen Times.
Cabe was able to pay for $18,548 in merchandise using an Apple Pay account on his cellphone after a credit card he attempted to use was declined twice, court documents said, per the newspaper. Cabe also did not have a "profile ID" and gave them a birthdate that did not match Johnson's, police said.
The New York Daily News said Cabe used 1991 as the birth year, but the real Chad Johnson was born in 1978.
Police said in the affidavit that that Cabe allegedly confessed to a sergeant who arrived on the scene to investigate, according to the Aspen Times.
"You're going to have to take me … to jail," police said Cabe told authorities, per the affidavit, the Times revealed. "I've done something bad."
Johnson, who has had his own issues with the law after his playing days, joked about the incident on Twitter after news broke about the arrest.
Johnson, who also was known for his eccentric persona where he also known as Chad Ochocinco, played 11 seasons in the NFL, 10 with the Cincinnati Bengals. He had not played a full season in the league since 2011, finishing his career with 766 catches for 11,059 yards and 67 touchdowns, noted ESPN.
Johnson failed to make the Miami Dolphins football after playing in New England for one season and one season with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes before retiring in 2015, noted NESN.
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