Mystery of the ‘British’ man with TWO fake identities who killed Uber driver in police chase leaves US cops baffled

Mystery surrounds the real identity of a British man arrested in the United States after an Uber driver was killed in a high speed police chase.

The suspect, who was also seriously injured in the crash, was originally named by US police as Steven Hall, 28, of Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, after his arrest.

But prosecutors announced three days later that he had been using false ID, and claimed his actual name was George Linard, 24, who was wanted for failing to appear in court on a string of charges including money laundering and cocaine possession

But analysis of UK birth records by the Daily Mail found evidence of only one person called George Linard of that approximate age had ever been born in Britain.

A reporter who went today to his home in March, Cambridgeshire, found Mr Linard alive and well, and baffled by how someone in custody in the US appeared to be using his name.

The real George Linard who is actually aged 23, proved his identity by showing his provisional driving licence to the reporter, and suggested his identity may have been stolen by hackers who he knew had fraudulently got into his HMRC account.

When asked about the man in custody apparently using his name, he asked: ‘A US media report? What is that about… is this legit, or are you pulling my leg?

‘A man charged with the death of a driver and using a fake ID…. I’m confused. He killed a man and gave my name. I can tell you for a fact it’s not me. I’ve not left the country.’

Mr Linard insisted: ‘I’ve never been to America nor do I have a driving licence. I still have my provisional. I’ve only left this country to go to France. I’ve never been to America. My full name is George Gerald Linard. I’m 23.

‘What makes me wig out about this is my HMRC account has fraudulently been used recently. They tried to get my tax rebate.’

Mr Linard’s mother Mandy added: ‘Let me tell you now my son has not been to America, you can check his passport. That’s an unusual surname as well.’

Meanwhile documents in the US suggest that the man in custody had also been using the names Steve Peker or Steve Peck and had been in possession of a supposedly fake UK driving licence in the name of Steven Pike.

But official custody records still list him as George Linard, leaving an ongoing mystery about his real identity.

Sources in the US suggest that the man is a British citizen with parents in the UK who was originally called Steven Hall and had been ‘spending time’ in the US recently

It is claimed that he had been deported from the US in 2023, although the circumstances are unclear, and he had changed his name to George Linard before getting back into the country.

The Daily Mail found US legal documents showing that a UK citizen named as George Linard, aged 24, had been charged with possessing cocaine on September 14 last year and possessing a fake UK driving licence in the name of a 29-year-old man called Steven Pike.

The fatal crash happened after a member of staff at a petrol station called police to report two men were drunk and causing a disturbance on the premises at around 5.45pm on November 9

He was also charged with money laundering due to having been found in possession of $32,033 in a sock and wallet which was believed to be derived from criminal activity, possessing a stolen credit card and possessing anabolic steroids with intent to supply.

The man was charged with the offences in Bergen County, New Jersey, after being pulled over by police while erratically driving a car and found to be seemingly ‘visibly impaired’ with a number of opened bottles of Corona beer alongside him in the vehicle.

He subsequently failed to attend court, and had a warrant out for his arrest at the time of the crash which led to the death of the Uber driver.

The fatal crash happened after a member of staff at a petrol station called police to report two men were drunk and causing a disturbance on the premises at around 5.45pm on November 9.

Officers quickly arrived and gave chase to a white car, allegedly carrying the two suspects, as it sped away from the P & S Gas and Food Mart in West Deptford.

CCTV cameras on nearby homes captured footage of the pursuit as officers activated the emergency lights on their marked car and desperately tried to get the driver to pull over.

But the car being pursued crossed on to the wrong side of the road and ploughed into the Uber taxi around quarter of a mile from the garage.

CCTV cameras on nearby homes captured footage of the pursuit

The Uber driver died in the head-on crash which left his 24-year-old woman passenger trapped, and needing to be cut free from the wreckage near the junction of Hessian Road and Red Bank Avenue.

The woman who suffered injuries needing surgery including a broken leg made a desperate Facetime call to her mother from the scene when she still had her face covered in blood.

The alleged driver of the car has now been charged with second-degree death by auto, fourth-degree possessing a fraudulent ID with a fake name, and two counts of fourth-degree assault by auto.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in the US applied for the man to be refused bail after the crash, pending an investigation into him allegedly being an illegal immigrant.

An ICE spokesperson confirmed that the man had previously been deported from the US in 2023, only for him to have apparently got back into the country.

He is still being treated in hospital for serious injuries after the crash. The passenger in his car is said to have suffered a broken hip in the collision.

The man’s lawyer Harley Breite told the Daily Mail that the police had been ‘reckless’ during their pursuit of him on the night of the crash

He said: ‘While this is a horrible tragedy we look forward to all of the facts coming out so that we can assess the culpability of the police in regards to this unfortunate incident’.

Mr Breite added that the man, he referred to as Linard, was still being treated in hospital for injuries from the ‘very serious accident’.