False Name Backfires During Waldorf Walmart Stop, Warrants Surface

WALDORF, Md. — A 35-year-old Bladensburg man is facing an identity fraud charge after Charles County sheriff’s deputies allege he provided another person’s name during a traffic stop near a Waldorf Walmart. Deputies later identified the man and discovered he had outstanding warrants.

Roy Joseph Hines, 35, of Bladensburg, was arrested Aug. 20 and charged in the District Court for Charles County with misdemeanor identity fraud for allegedly assuming another person’s identity to avoid identification, apprehension or prosecution.

The investigation began at approximately 10:34 p.m. Aug. 20 when a Charles County sheriff’s officer responded to the Walmart on Acton Lane in Waldorf for a reported theft, according to a statement of probable cause.

When the officer arrived, other officers had already detained a person in connection with the reported theft.

While other officers continued investigating the theft, the investigating officer reported seeing a man enter a Kia parked in the Walmart lot.

According to the probable cause statement, the vehicle began traveling through the parking lot before attempting to leave onto Acton Lane.

The officer alleged the Kia was being operated without its headlights illuminated.

As the vehicle approached the exit, the deputy drove behind it and reported that its headlights remained off. The officer also noticed what was described as an inoperable brake light.

The deputy initiated a traffic stop on Acton Lane, and the Kia pulled back into the Walmart parking lot and stopped, according to the report.

Police said the driver attempted to get out of the vehicle after the stop.

The officer instructed him to remain inside, but the driver allegedly became argumentative and questioned why he had been stopped.

The deputy explained that the traffic stop was initiated because the vehicle was allegedly being operated without headlights and had an inoperable brake light.

The officer asked the driver for his license and the vehicle registration. According to the charging document, the man said he had neither document in his possession.

Police allege the driver then identified himself using another person’s name and provided a date of birth. Dispatchers reportedly could not locate a record under the information initially provided.

The officer again asked whether the name he provided was his actual name. According to the probable cause statement, the driver continued to maintain that it was.

Investigators also requested a records check through the District of Columbia but again were unable to locate a record matching the information provided, according to the report.

The man allegedly continued to deny that he had given officers false information.

The officer then conducted a records check on the Kia’s Maryland registration.

According to the probable cause statement, the records showed the vehicle had previously been stopped multiple times in Prince George’s County.

Police reviewed records from one of those prior traffic stops and found that the vehicle’s driver had been identified as Roy Joseph Hines.

The deputy then conducted a records check using Hines’ information and reviewed a Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration driver’s license photograph.

According to police, the photograph confirmed that the man officers had stopped was Hines.

Police said dispatchers advised that Hines had multiple outstanding warrants through Virginia and Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Authorities also learned that Hines’ Maryland driver’s license was suspended, according to the charging document.

The deputy returned to the Kia and addressed the driver by his correct name.

Police said Hines responded to the name.

The officer then informed Hines that he was being placed under arrest because of the outstanding warrant through Anne Arundel County and because investigators believed he had provided false identifying information in an effort to avoid prosecution.

Hines was placed under arrest and secured in a marked patrol vehicle, according to the report.

Investigators alleged Hines’ use of the false name constituted identity fraud because he had assumed another identity in an apparent attempt to avoid identification or prosecution.

Police allege Hines admitted providing the false name because he was afraid.

Hines was transported to the Charles County Detention Center for processing.

Hines was held without bond, according to District Court records.

A trial officer scheduling hearing is set for Oct. 16, 2026, in Charles County District Court.

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