On May 18th, 2025, officers with the Ellensburg Police Department responded to a fraud in progress at a Verizon store located on South Water Street after employees reported a man using a fake identity to purchase thousands of dollars worth of electronics. Hello. Hey, I'm Officer Ross. I'm just saying I'm recording with my camera and microphone. Hey, dad. What's going on today, man? No, I'm just chilling. Okay, do you happen to have your ID with you that you're using here? Oh, yeah. I'll grab it. Okay, I'll have you hang here. Cuz you have it. You have your ID that you presented to him. Yeah, it's in the car. It's in the car. Which car? >> Yeah, right here. Okay, just hang tight here for me, okay? >> Okay, okay. Okay, so just go ahead and sit down here for me, okay? Okay. While we discuss what's going on. Yeah. Okay. So, sit down here for me. >> Okay, no, is there a problem? Yeah, so it sounds like you presented a fake ID to purchase some products. >> No, I don't know. Okay, so what ID did you present him? I can go grab it right now for you. You don't have it with you? No, it's right here. I'm about to show you. Okay, hey, hang tight. Oh, yeah, I got my wallet. >> going to detain you real quick. >> All right, why are you grabbing me though, man? >> run away. I'm not about to run, but why are you grabbing me? >> Don't run away. I'm not about to run. Okay, go ahead and place your hands behind 10-3 standby. Send more units. Please. He just hit me. Taser, taser. Taser, taser, taser. Stop. Go get a car. 10-30 gate, come. He's southbound through the Fred Meyer parking lot, black pants, plaid shirt, African-American male, approximately 30s. Also be ADVISED TASER DEPLOYED. YOU GOOD? NEGATIVE. ALL RIGHT, IF you just want to lock up, we'll be back. We're going to find him. 1 2 3 Adam 10. 1 16 at Ruby available. 1 16 we will. 1 16 standing I think he's 1 16 50. 1 16 K9. North, west. 1 31 2 3. I think he's going to be behind wood products here. Potentially in the brush. 4 1 2 3 on patrol. I believe he's going to be behind wood products in the brush here. What was he wearing? Plaid shirt, black pants, African-American male. What color plaid? Like a white and blue. White and blue, black pants, huh? Yep. It's probably got a probe in him, too. You tased him? Yeah, he started punching. Uh 1 2 3. As the search intensified, officers canvassed the area and even deployed a drone to locate him. But strong winds limited its effectiveness. Despite their efforts, McCray managed to evade capture that day, prompting detectives to shift focus toward a broader investigation using surveillance footage, vehicle tracking, and digital evidence. Just so you know, I'm recording with my camera. So, I know my partner already talked to you. Yeah. Um can you just kind of walk me through start to finish, kind of I was also going to say since you're up, I don't know if you guys do like fingerprints and stuff, but he was grabbing this one right here. That one? Pat it down or something. The bottom one? Okay. So, the white one, Casemate. He had his fingers all over that, so maybe there's something you can search for. I don't know. So, how many phones did he get away with today? Five. Five? >> Including, I guess And the one that we recovered. Okay. So, you basically stole like 4 6,000. Do you have Do you like photocopy or scan the IDs at all? We did not. We We check them out our personal selves. Okay. So, how it went, right? He came in He was like, "I want to I want to uh I want to port over a line and I want to um add a line for my daughter." And I was like, "Okay, yeah, let's do that." So, I put in the phone number that he wanted, Okay. >> but he gave me the wrong one. He gave me like a T-Mobile one, supposedly. But, it still got me to the correct account. So, I don't believe that was a T-Mobile port. So, I don't think that would help you guys. When he was going in, um I didn't really think too much of it. I was like, um "Do you have the phone on you?" He was like, "Oh, yeah." Um and I was like, "Okay, I'm going to send you a notification." And then afterwards, he was like, um "Actually, I just don't have it on me. Can I use the PIN real quick?" And I was like, "Okay, yeah, for sure." The secure PIN is like the customers make that themselves. Yeah. So, it's not easy to get off anything. Yeah. >> it's definitely You definitely got to like do That person has to tell you what their um account PIN is. So, their account PIN is more secure than even accepting a notification. So, he gave me the account PIN. Everything went through. It was under Steven um Fries. Um and I was like, "Okay, can I take a look at your ID?" And he showed me through the wallet, and I took a look at it. Um and it said Steven Fries, had his face on it, everything. Um but and there is an Arizona um ID. Do you happen to remember the date of birth at all? I do not, no. We usually just check on their last name, and then the photo ID, we check them. Um So, when we I checked that, I was like, "Okay, goes through." Okay. Um So, I didn't really think too much of it, cuz it wasn't supposed to be six lines at once, right? So, once I got into the account, he was like, "Okay, we can add this." I checked the credit, everything seemed fine. And he He was on call with his wife. His wife, he was like, "Um hey, honey, what kind of phone do you want for our daughter, this and that?" And then the little girl started talking. So, like, he was with his whole family. Um and she, you know, wanted a Pro Max, trade-in, stuff like that. So, I told him, I was like, "Hey, man, you qualify for trade-ins, this and that. New lines are getting a thousand dollars off new phones." He was like, "Okay, yeah, that sounds really good." So, in my mind, I really thought I sold him the phones. I was like, "Okay, he wants to add more lines." And someone overheard when he was on the call with his family. His mom was on that as well, and she was like, "Oh, you're at Verizon?" And he was like, uh, "Yeah, Mom." And he she was like, but it was like so legit, like she was like, "Okay, you know, your mom needs a new phone as well." And they're like joking about it, and he's like, "Haha, nah, Mom, this is going to be already too expensive." And he's like, "Okay, yeah, you know what? Let's do it." Uh, and his brother, everyone was there, so they were like trying to get new phones, and they sent him money through like, uh, Cash App. So, through Cash App and Apple Pay. I didn't really think too much of it. I was like, "I can price it out for you guys to pay individually monthly." So, at the end it ended up being six phones. So, I was like, "Okay." I didn't think too much of it. I did mess up in the part where I took cash, uh, versus close out before I could go out of limit. Um, I didn't think too much of it when I rang out the phones. So, it was 500 bucks that he gave me. I have it in the cash register just register right now for the first four four phones. At the end, he, uh, Do you still have it? >> The cash? Yeah. >> Yeah, let's just make sure that it's real cash. Do you have like a black light or something? Yeah, we do. Cool. Did you check them at all? No. Okay. So, all the cash he gave me is right there. Right there, okay. You can go grab that black light. Yeah, if you want to check it. And it's all right here. Yeah, it's all in that one. >> I'm not seeing it. Mine through light. I can give you my flash. You can use it. I'm not sure if that'll help. Oh, you mean like that? Yeah, I think this is going to be fake. Cuz usually there's watermark. Like a Benjamin. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, let's see what the other ones. And 20s were his as well? Yeah, all of that was all his. Okay. And that felt pretty real in my hand counting all that. >> That one's real. That one's real. That one's real. That's real. That was I can't believe it. Yeah, instantly when he's like, "Oh, my >> Oh, yeah, my new It's in my car. It's in my car." I'm like I was like, "Bro, this guy is not I can't I still can't believe that went through my head over my head, dude." And this it wasn't his back here? >> No, that's just our store. So, I guess the only fake is the 100. >> The 100, okay. And when I did see it, I was like a little bit like confused, but I did have customers and I was trying to get through to everyone. And Yeah. And that And that um quarter was his as well. It's right there. This uh That one's fake. And that's the watermark. And the other ones are the watermark. And this is kind of fake. Uh detectives are going to come in and start investigating. Okay. Uh and I got one night shift or one uh other officer coming in. Did the guy like fully get away and stuff? As of this point right now, but um Yeah. I'm sure he has like family close by. Like he was literally everyone was there. Do you have any evidence again? Yeah, I just have this one right now. And I have only big ones that was in Okay. So, how much stuff did he get away with? Six phones. So, this is one of them. So, That phone that I picked up, that's your phone? That's the store's phone, correct. Okay, I thought it was his phone. Yeah. So, it's the store's phone and then he has They're still on open, so you guys can find the vehicle. They're brand new phones on iPhone 16s. Okay. They're each So, it's five phones in that box. Okay. So, he's got five phones unopened. >> They're each 1,200 bucks. 130 57, can you go ahead and advise the incident? phone I can't. It's up to you. It's Rossin's case, but Yeah, whatever you say. And he broke your glasses? Broke the glasses, broke my radio. Okay. You already got photos of Broke my pants. Uh-oh. Are you injured at all? >> Yeah, my fingers. You want to me to Probably should have locked the door, but Huh. Well, that's okay. We We had to get in here somehow. Yeah. I took a picture of that. I have a phone that I thought was his. Excuse me, ma'am. You want to take a photo of And then he punched me in the or he elbowed me in the face. Okay. I don't think there's any injury. Yeah, you got a You got a egg >> You got a raspberry? Yeah. 130 57, advise the incident. You guys usually got this stuff like that? I used to. 130 57. So, if that guy doesn't live in town, you don't think he'll come back? He I I would go out on a 99% sure that he doesn't live in town. Really? Yeah. They usually do this. They come in town like on weekends and stuff. Come from out of town and hit small stores like this. They'll drive just follow the interstate and just keep hitting stores. So. Um. You might I don't know if you got any other sister stores. Around you might want to let them know to watch out for him. >> Yeah, my boss is going to talk to all of them for sure. Okay. All right, man. Um. And yeah, let your boss know unfortunately we're we're going to take fake out the fake bill. Yeah. So. Okay. It's right next to the wind farm. All right. Um. And that address on the sheet that you gave me that's the address he gave you. Yeah. That comes back to like a 50s, 60s year old dude. Yeah. He is stealing somebody's identity as well. Yeah, definitely is. But his ID was literally like Arizona, the same address and yeah. Um. And he took all those boxes with him. Correct, everything. Okay. And he must have went kept going back and forth between car all boxes in the car or something. >> No. No, like literally that's all he had. Were they in his pocket like jacket pocket? >> So, they're in the TCC bag. Okay. So, store bag we gave to him, put the phones in there. And then he went out in truck, the white truck and he left that way. So, he just left and then he came back. So, that's when I was confused cuz I seen him out here walking in front of me he's like eating something. Walked over here and he's like, "Oh, I got confused." And he walked back out here inside the door. Okay. So, when I saw him walking through over there, that's when I was kind of confused, and that's when I left. Okay. All right. Um and what kind of Do you remember like was it Ford, Chevy? >> was a Ram. Like a Ram? Like a newer or older? Older, like a 2009 Ram, all white. It had a dent in the side of the cab. So, if you were to take a look at this truck, on the side of the cab, it would like dent in. So, you can see dent marks. Okay. >> the very top On the top. Um any like bumper stickers that you saw or anything like >> just plain white, though. >> Okay. No toolbox or nothing? >> It had some big rims. Other than that, the dent would really give it away. Okay. All right. If you won't answer that, that's fine. Do you think you can help us with your reason I brought you here today? After fleeing, McCrae was tracked by a rental records and real-time cell phone pings. On May 21st, 2025, authorities located him as a passenger in a different rental vehicle in Snohomish County, where he was arrested without incident. A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered additional stolen devices, fraudulent IDs, and victim data linking him to a broader identity theft operation spanning the state. Okay. What do you think we're here to talk about? Uh some of these warrants that you got out on Okay, fair enough. I skipped a step here. Do you understand this is being recorded by the camera and microphone? Are you okay with that recording? Yeah, I'm okay with it. Okay. All right, I got you off. What were you saying? Something about the warrants? Yeah, the latest warrants I have on me. Okay. So, that's That's why we're here. Um I'm assuming they read those warrants to you when they uh booked in the Everett jail there. Yeah, they did. Okay. So, tell me why you ended up with those warrants. Tell me why? Yeah, how did you end up having that warrant for your arrest? Uh that's what I'm trying to figure out now. Okay. Fair enough. So, you said if you talk to me it's going to depend on what we're talking about, right? Yeah, what are we talking about? >> So, we're talking about the uh stuff with all the cell phones, specifically at the Verizon store here in Ellensburg. And then um we're going to talk a little bit about um some of the other stores you guys went to, but really all I care about is what happened at the Verizon store here in town on Sunday. So, that's what I'd like to talk to you about. Are you comfortable talking about that with me? On Sunday? Yes, sir. Two things. I didn't steal nothing. He said they got theft on there. Okay. I didn't steal anything. Okay. Um and the other thing was about the um putting hands on a police officer. I didn't put my hands on a police officer. Okay. You all right if I ask you some follow-up questions on those statements? Some follow-up questions? Yes, sir. As far as what? So, as far as you saying you didn't steal anything. I didn't steal nothing. Okay. No, so I don't know why I have theft. Okay. So, what what happened at the Verizon store if you're saying you didn't steal anything? I'm saying I didn't steal nothing. Okay. What did you do there? Um those was just the questions I had. Just those three things. Did you have Did you have more questions for me that I didn't answer? >> steal nothing. Okay. And I didn't put my hands on the cop. Okay. Those are the things that I have to say. Okay. I want to make 100% clear that I'm not going to violate your rights. It sounds to me like you're saying you don't want to answer any more questions. Is that what you're saying? Um I feel comfortable you know, uh with a lawyer. Okay. So, I just >> incriminate myself. Okay. To be 100% clear, what I'm hearing you say is that you're not comfortable talking to me without a lawyer. Is that what you're saying? Unless this is making sense to where it's helping me out. If it's not helping me out, why would I do it? What am I getting out of this? Okay. Taquan McCray was charged with first-degree criminal impersonation, first-degree theft, third-degree assault, and resisting arrest. Investigators later uncovered evidence suggesting his involvement in a larger, multi-state fraud scheme targeting wireless retailers. As of the latest updates, Taquan Kendall McCray is being held on $175,000 bail in Kittitas County Jail awaiting sentencing on multiple felony charges.