Clark County Jail and court staff were seeing double last week when identical twin sisters were arrested within days of each other — and both gave the same name.
When contacted by law enforcement Jan. 5 at the Parklane Apartments in Hazel Dell, Natalie Kay Carter, 23, allegedly claimed to be her twin sister, Audrie Carter, according to court papers. Clark County sheriff’s deputies looked up the name and found a District Court warrant for Audrie Carter’s arrest. When deputies asked her if she had any drugs with her, she admitted to carrying heroin inside her shoulder bag, court papers say.
Unsuspecting sheriff’s Deputy Albin Boyse took Natalie Carter into custody on her sister’s warrant. She was booked into jail under her sister’s name on suspicion of the warrant and heroin possession. She then made her first court appearance Jan. 6 in front of Judge David Gregerson. The case was filed under Audrie Carter’s name, assigned a case number and added to the state court records database.
The charade lasted for three days, according to court documents. It ended at about 3 p.m. Thursday when Deputy Boyse was dispatched to the Hazel Dell WinCo Foods, 9700 N.E. Highway 99, on a report of shoplifting. There, he encountered a suspect who was Natalie Carter’s spitting image.
WinCo employees accused the look-alike of trying to run off with a beverage and other items worth about $13. The suspect told Boyse that her name was Audrie Carter, court papers say.
She explained that she was the victim of criminal impersonation and that the impersonator was her twin, Natalie, Boyse wrote in a court affidavit.
Family reunion
Boyse transported “the true Audrie Carter” to the Clark County Jail on suspicion of third-degree theft and the warrant for which her sister, Natalie, already had been arrested on false pretenses. There, the sisters were reunited.
“While in booking, I requested Natalie to come down from her housing unit,” Boyse wrote. “Once she was in booking, she (saw) her sister, Audrie, and apologized.”
Natalie Carter told Boyse that when she used her twin’s name Jan. 5, she hadn’t known that Audrie Carter had a warrant out for her arrest, Boyse wrote.
Natalie Carter appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Monday to face an additional charge of first-degree criminal impersonation in connection with the false use of her sister’s identity.
“It’s kind of a bizarre situation,” her attorney, Diane Grecco, said.
Natalie Carter is scheduled to be arraigned on charges of criminal impersonation and heroin possession Jan. 16. She is in jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.
In addition to sharing a womb, the twin sisters also have shared a history of trouble with the law, according to state court records.
Audrie Carter was arrested in 2014 on suspicion of shoplifting at Macy’s and heroin possession and was wanted on a warrant in that case.
Natalie Carter’s criminal history, dating back to 2011, includes third-degree theft and bail jumping.
