Editorial: Countering identify theft

Thursday, May 24, 2007 | 6:53 a.m.

It was big news two weeks ago when Omar Rueda Denvers was named as the suspect in the Luxor parking-garage bombing that killed a man.

It was equally big news when Rueda Denvers, a Panamanian businessman, announced that he was in Panama at the time of the crime and the police photo of the bombing suspect actually showed a handyman he had hired some time ago.

Rueda Denvers, who is now working with local and Panamanian authorities to clear his name, said he was the victim of identity theft.

The incident brought new attention to this crime, which has grown rapidly in recent years. It also brought needed publicity to a program that is gaining traction across the country.

In a follow-up story Wednesday on Rueda Denvers' situation, Las Vegas Sun reporter Timothy Pratt referred to the Identity Theft Passport Program. Begun as a pilot project about three years ago in Ohio after that state secured a federal grant, the program is catching on in other states. Nevada has offered it since January 2006.

Under the program, offered through the attorney general's office, identity-theft victims who report the crime to local police will be given detailed information about the steps they need to take to clear their names.

They will also be given an application for a special identification card, or "passport." Once their information has been verified by the attorney general's office, the card will be issued to the victim. The card enables victims to quickly establish their innocence if they ever encounter trouble because their name has been associated with a crime.

Nevada is performing an important public service by offering this program.