Decatur woman arrested for stealing identity

DECATUR — Claudia Valdez Lagunas, of Decatur, was arrested on March 30 after allegedly using another woman’s identity for more than seven years.

Lagunas is accused of using the identity of a McAllen Texas woman - April Salas - to gain employment at Peterson Farms and Simmons Foods.

According to a report from the Decatur Police Department, Salas discovered her identity had been stolen when she received a notice from theInternal Revenue Service that she had failed to pay taxes on $36,400 she earned from Simmons Foods during a period spanning from 2004 until 2008 and $54,736 she earned from Peterson Farms from 2006 through 2008. Salas told police she has never worked for either company.

Decatur police officer Larry Fiedorowicz contacted a people services manager at Simmons Foods and was told that the woman posing as Salas had been terminated in December 2009 and her employment records had been lost except for her identification cards.Fiedorowicz was able to obtain the woman’s employment records from Peterson Farms, and confirmed the same woman had used Salas identity while working for both companies.

Through his investigation, Fiedorowicz discovered the woman’s true identity was Claudia Valdez Lagunas and she was living with her boyfriend and small children at an address on Buffington Street in Decatur, the report said.

Lagunas was arrested on felony charges of Financial Identity Theft and transported to the Benton County Jail.