CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) – A Connecticut man is behind bars after more than 40 years on the run from police.
According to the Department of Justice, 76-year-old Douglas Bennett was convicted by a jury in Connecticut of robbery, kidnapping, sexual contact, rape, and deviate sexual intercourse and was sentenced to 9 to 18 years in Connecticut State Prison in 1975. However, Bennett, never turned himself in to begin his sentence.
Records show that, in 1977, Bennett assumed the identity of a 5-year-old who had died in 1945 and remained on the run for more than 40 years.
Bennett was arrested in Clearwater, Florida on Wednesday after a fingerprint comparison confirmed that he was the same person convicted in Connecticut in 1975.
At the time of Bennett’s arrest, he was in possession of a Florida driver license bearing the false identifying information, but containing Bennett’s photograph.
Bennett is charged with passport fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 12 years in federal prison.