Man charged after signing brother’s name

A man gave his brother’s name during a traffic stop but police eventually figured out the man’s true identity and arrested him Monday.

Spokane Valley Police officer Jason Petrini stopped a Mitsubishi Mirage near Sprague Avenue and Evergreen Road after noticing the car had a license plate for a Mitsubishi of a different color, according to a Valley Police Department press release.

The driver told Petrini he had no identification, police said.

Petrini used an in-car computer to look up the name the driver said was his own. The jail booking photograph did not look like the driver, Police said.

Petrini wrote the driver a ticket for not having his license. The driver signed the ticket, police said.

Petrini confronted the man with the mug shot information. The driver allegedly confessed that he had used his brother’s name. He was identified as Nicholas I. Hernandez, 5615 N. Post St.

Because he had signed the ticket, he was arrested on suspicion of felony forgery and was booked into the Spokane County Jail.