Howard Pankratz
The Denver Post
Posted: 02/12/2010 04:07:04 PM MST

Updated: 02/12/2010 04:08:05 PM MST

Robin Hood (Denver District Attorney | ) 

Robin Hood — Robin Joshua Hood, 34, not the famed Sherwood Forest bandit — was charged today in Denver with identity theft and criminal impersonation.

Officials say Hood found a wallet in downtown Denver and assumed the identity of the owner.

As Hood told investigators after his arrest, he was wanted out of Denver for drug violations and didn't want to be arrested on a Denver arrest warrant.

Hood used the name he had stolen, which was blacked out in court documents, when issued a summons in Denver for shoplifting.

According to the documents, on Jan. 6, Hood was leaving the Independent Records store at 937 E. Colfax Ave., when security grabbed him for shoplifting three baseball caps valued at $44.97.

When police arrived they found four used "injection devices" in Hood's left front pants pocket.

Officer says Hood told them, "I use them for heroin."

The man whose identity Hood allegedly assumed told investigators he lost his wallet Dec. 14. The wallet, he said, contained both his Colorado driver's license and ID. He said he did not know Hood and hadn't given Hood permission to use his ID.

Hood, who spoke freely to investigators after being advised of his Miranda rights, may have been trying to be as forthright as his English namesake.