Alyssa Ridenour
reporter@greenepublishing.com
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) Troopers put a stop to a "modern-day Bonnie and Clyde," who were living their lives on the fast track to prison. Thirty-two-year-old Evan Neely and 20-year-old Taylor Banaszek were traveling down I-10 in a 2020 black Nissan four-door sedan that they had rented. As they traveled through Madison County, FHP pulled them over for a moving violation. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer immediately realized that the couple was acting suspicious.
According to reports, following protocol, the officer asked for identification. Neely handed the officer an ID belonging to a man he resembled and Banaszek claimed she didn't have her ID on her, but gave the officer the name of another woman whose ID they had also stolen. After doing a quick computer search, the officer was able to conclude that he had been provided with false information and something wasn't adding up.
Upon returning to the driver's window, he noticed a pile of credit cards sitting in plain view. When he asked the occupants if he could take a look at the cards, Neely quickly swept up the cards and proclaimed, "I'd rather you not look through my personal credit cards." The officer's suspicions grew. He then proceeded in requesting Neely and Banaszek to allow him to perform a search. He was assisted on the scene by his colleagues, where, according to reports, they discovered a massive quantity of stolen ID's, credit cards, social security cards, bank statements and numbers written on paper.
Neely and Banaszek were promptly arrested and booked in Madison County Jail and are facing a combined total of 323 felony charges. In addition to substantial evidence of fraud, both individuals had outstanding warrants in other counties. Neely's warrants included fraud, violation of probation, manufacturing of methamphetamine and providing a law enforcement officer with false information. Banaszek had one warrant for the possession of dangerous drugs.
Neely is being charged with an out-of-county warrant, 149 counts of fraud impersonation, one count of driving without a valid license, one count of trafficking personal identifiers, 16 counts of larceny and one count of possession of counterfeit cards. Neely already had a history of fraud charges. In May of 2019, he was charged with renting a vehicle with the intent to defraud and possession of the personal IDs of five or more people (trafficking personal identifiers). In August of 2019, he was charged with possession of methamphetamine and charged again for the possession of the IDs of five or more people.
Banaszek is being charged with one out-of-county warrant, 149 counts of fraud impersonation and one count of trafficking personal identifiers. The only criminal record currently known of for Banaszek is her warrant for the possession of dangerous drugs.
Much of the stolen information came from individuals in other states and included military IDs. The couple has been separated and extradited to their counties to serve their warrants. Neely was sent back to Pasco County and Banaszek was sent to Hernando County.