By Amanda Lillie

staff writer

A 26-year-old Albert Lea man pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony forgery Thursday in Mower County court.

Claudio Aguilar-Morales arrived at the Target parking lot Oct. 24 to help his friend who had allegedly hit a car with her Ford Windstar.

The owner of the car that was struck had come out of the store to find a napkin under the windshield wiper stating that a green Ford Windstar had hit the car.

An officer arrived and attempted to speak with the driver of the Windstar, but the woman spoke very little English. Once on the phone with a translator, the woman told police that the van is a friend’s vehicle and does not have insurance, but a few minutes later she said she owned it and had not transferred the title yet.

The woman also denied knowledge of hitting the car.

Aguilar-Morales arrived to help the woman and identified himself to police as Sergio Villarreal, Jr. The officer ran his driver’s license and discovered that he was wanted on a warrant for assault in Texas.

Aguilar-Morales was taken to the Law Enforcement Center, at which point officers determined Aguilar-Morales is not the same man who is wanted in Texas.

The man told police he had “no idea” why a man in Texas would have the same name and birth date as him and said his birth certificate is in Texas.

Eventually, Aguilar-Morales admitted that he was born in Mexico and bought his birth certificate for $300 in Texas.