Manhattan Beach Police arrested a convicted felon on parole Monday evening at Malibu Colony Plaza after an intense three-day stakeout.
Phillip Macksoud, 46, was arrested after investigators determined he and his wife, Dawn, two weeks ago rented a mailbox under a counterfeit, fraudulent name at the Malibu Business & Shipping Center, located in the plaza.
Phillip and Dawn Macksoud had been living at Malibu Beach RV Park.
When authorities approached Phillip Macksoud, Dawn sped off in a getaway vehicle. She plowed into the side of a detective’s car and then led one of three Manhattan policemen on a pursuit down Malibu Road, during which she crashed into a residence and a parked Land Rover before abandoning her car and escaping to Amarillo Beach, according to detectives.
The couple was involved in an ongoing chain of identity theft during the past couple of months in the South Bay area, primarily Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes Estates, Michael Rosenberger, lead detective of the Manhattan Beach Police Department, said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
Police searched the couple’s trailer, located in the Malibu Beach RV Park off Pacific Coast Highway just south of Corral Canyon, and found stolen property and fraudulent credit card applications using the names of more than 20 identity theft victims, in addition to narcotics and more than $1,000 in , Rosenberg said.
Nereida Heath, owner of Malibu Business & Shipping Center, said there was no reason to suspect Macksoud was an identity thief.
“There was no way to tell because he had a great fake identification card,” Heath said, adding that the store would be taking drastic security improvement measures. “It used to be that if you get a mailbox, you get a front-door key. We’re getting cameras now, and will not allow any [mailbox holders] to have a front-door key until they’re screened,” she said.
Phillip Macksoud is scheduled to appear at Torrance Superior Courthouse this Thursday. Meanwhile, authorities remain in active pursuit of Dawn Macksoud, who Rosenberg described as a five-foot-tall, 120-pound Caucasian woman with brown hair and blue eyes. Any information on her whereabouts should be reported to the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, 310.456.6652.