Police Dig Up True Identity of Habitual Offender with 10 Aliases

Riverside, IL - Riverside police used fingerprinting to reveal the true identity of a documented street gang member who has nearly 50 arrests on his record.

Jiovonni G. Moorison, 33 of Chicago, has used 10 aliases, five dates of birth, four addresses and a fake driver's license to throw law enforcement off his trail for years, according to Riverside police.

Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said other police agencies that pulled Moorison over had just written him tickets and didn't take the time to positively identify him.

"Fingerprints don't lie," Weitzel said in a statement. "This is a textbook example of why police agencies throughout the State of Illinois must fingerprint defendants to find out their true identity before they are charged."

Moorison was stopped around 2:37 a.m. May 17 for speeding 68 mph in a 30 mph zone on Harlem Avenue and Ogden, police reported, and the arresting officer smelled cannabis in the car.

Moorison gave the officer his real name but said he didn't have his driver's license with him. The officer checked Moorison in the state computer system and learned he had multiple aliases.

The officer also found that a woman riding in the car with Moorison had an active order of protection against him, which stated Moorison was not allowed to have contact with the woman at any time, police reported.

Before the car was impounded, police found an open bottle of Remy liquor and seven plastic bags containing a substance that field tested positive for cannabis.

At the Riverside police station, Moorison refused to give police any information. He was fingerprinted, and his actual birth name appeared as Jiovonni G. Moorison. Moorison had a valid driver's license under this name and his real date of birth.

But he also had a fake driver's license under the name Demond Davis. That license was revoked for three DUI convictions dating back to 2001, police reported.

Police found Moorison had 48 prior arrests for crimes involving drugs, invasion of privacy, assault, gambling, obstruction of justice, weapons and traffic offenses. He was also involved in a crash in which he hit a bicyclist, police reported.

Police uncovered the many aliases and the different false information he'd given police since his first arrest in 1998.

Moorison was charged with felony aggravated driving while license revoked, manufactured delivery of cannabis, violation of an order of protection, aggravated speeding, driving while license revoked, possession of open alcohol by a driver and several additional traffic citations. He is being held without bail.

Moorison was on felony parole at the time of his arrest in Riverside, and he is a self-admitted documented street gang member, police reported.

Photo courtesy of Riverside police.