'Imposter' Arrested, Charged With Speeding, ID Theft and Grand Larceny AutoBy Pat Zachberg
LAKEWOOD - The Ocean County District Attorney's Office has announced the arrest of Michael Long, and Long's indictment on charges of identity theft, car theft and excessive speeding, often at more than 300 miles per hour.
According to lead prosecutor Jim Cox, an investigation lasting more than 25 years revealed "a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist."
Long, who disappeared and was presumed dead in 1982, has confessed to assuming the identity of Michael Knight, who Cox described as "a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law."
As it turns out, Long himself may have been a criminal who operated above the law.
"Identities throughout the country are stolen on nearly an hourly basis, but rarely like this," said Cox.
Indeed, Long apparently underwent plastic surgery in 1982, and assumed the appearance of a youthful Wilton Knight, then on his deathbed. It is unclear whether Long and Knight actually knew each other.
Long is not suspected to have been involved in Wilton Knight's death, but has been charged with stealing Knight's Pontiac Trans-Am, often driving it at more than 250 MPH above the speed limit.
After repeatedly insisting that a star witness would fully exonerate him during today's hearing, Long was ordered confined indefinitely at a mental health facility when that "witness" turned out to some sort of video-enhanced GPS system known only as "KITT."
Ike Lewis, a close friend of Wilton Knight, who declined to be quoted under his real name, lamented that "for years we helped Michael. We got him a job, a nice car and a nice face."
Long's plastic surgeon remains at large.
Ironically, Cox is also leading the investigation into the whereabouts of a crack commando unit that in 1972 escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they apparently survive as soldiers of fortune.
posted on 4/09/2008
