- April 19, 2024
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Acting on a tip from the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office, Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies began searching for a 2018 gray Dodge Journey that was reported stolen in South Carolina from Avis Car Rental, according to a news release by the FCSO.
The stolen vehicle hit an automatic license plate reader in Flagler County and was spotted by a deputy on patrol around 7 a.m. Friday, April 12. The deputy was able to track the vehicle to a Sunoco gas station in Bunnell. A felony traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle, however, the driver and sole occupant refused to identify himself or answer any questions. Multiple fraudulent driver’s licenses and fraudulent credit cards were in his possession.
Deputies used Rapid ID, which scans a person’s fingerprint and transmits it directly to the State Automated Fingerprint Identification System, to learn the driver’s identity.
The driver was identified as 40-year-old Changa Bush and showed that he had an active fugitive warrant for parole violation from New York since 2016 that ordered him to be held without bond.
Changa was arrested and charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, driving without a license, along with the fugitive warrant from New York. He has been booked into the Flagler County Jail. Once he faces his charges in Flagler County, he will be extradited to New York to face his charges there.
“This is exactly why we implemented Rapid ID and LPRs in Flagler County, so we can take criminals like this off the streets,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a release. “Our technology and crime fighting strategy is working and today it took a fugitive parolee off the streets that has been on the run for three years. He came to the wrong county."
Due to the extensive fraudulent activity that appears to have taken place, FCSO detectives are working with local, state and federal partners. Additional charges are pending further investigation.
