A man is trying to clear his name after he was wrongly accused of being part of a chaotic chase.
Mekal Wilson was robbed of his driver’s license, debit card, and cell phone while out on a walk back in August.
Now he is worried about his name showing up on the internet after his ID was found on a man, who was arrested after a high-speed chase.
Wilson, who lives in Fort Lauderdale and works in tech support, said he was nowhere near that high-speed chase that day.
“I am not responsible for the crimes that you may see,” said Wilson.
Wilson said his ID has not been the only thing used in his name over the past few months. His debit card has also been used.
“There were multiple attempts to use my debit card,” said Wilson.
Toward the end of 2023, Wilson was notified that he was accused of several serious traffic offenses. So, he went on the internet and searched his name.
“I watch you guys, so I went directly to your website and sure enough it’s saying ‘Mekal Wilson is involved in this high-speed chase,” said Wilson.
But it is not him.
According to police, the man falsely identifying as Wilson and his group embarked on a shoplifting spree in Homestead before the man, falsely identifying as Wilson, jumped behind the wheel of a U-Haul van and led police on a chase.
The real Wilson watched the high-speed chase and was stunned.
“The guy jumping off the side of the overpass there,” said Wilson.
The man behind the high-speed chase has been identified as James Bindon after he slipped up when asked about his birthday.
According to the arrest report, “the driver’s license had a different date of birth.”
Still, Bindon was booked under Wilson’s name.
A month later, BSO deputies working on Wilson’s stolen identity case notified Homestead Police that Bindon had provided a fake identity.
Now, the real Wilson is worried about the consequences of a simple search of his name.
“Employment could be, you know, terminated or not offered,” said Wilson.
Following his identity being stolen, Wilson has gotten fingerprinted for extra protection.
“So I don’t run into a law enforcement officer that runs my name and, maybe, becomes a bit overzealous, and now our interaction starts to go south before it even begins because ‘The Mekal Wilson I’m seeing on my computer screen here eludes police.’ Now I’ve got this type of thing following me and it isn’t legitimate. All of these crazy things that I would never be a part of,” said Wilson.
Wilson said he doesn’t believe it was Bindon who stole his driver’s license during his neighborhood walk in August. He said he had no idea how his ID got into the hands of Bindon.
Bindon is facing several charges related to the high-speed chase and the robbery before it. An additional charge of fraud has been added to his case as a result of using Wilson’s ID.
