An Oregon DMV worker spotted what appeared to him to be suspicious activity relating to someone who was applying for an Oregon ID card. He did an ad hoc investigation, and put a mark on the applicant's record. The mark was later removed and she got her ID. And, he was fired.

"DMV worker fights firing":

Last month, Dallas DMV office manager LaVay Jeffries was accused of racial profiling and fired.

He says that he was doing his job, trying to keep someone from obtaining an Oregon driving permit under false pretenses.

DMV administrator Lorna Youngs said she regards Jeffries' actions as "outside the scope of his position," saying that it is not the responsibility of DMV employees to "conduct independent criminal investigations."

On May 4, 2005 Jeffries became suspicious of a woman, Jimenez Mesa, who was attempting to get an Oregon learner's driving permit.

She spoke little English and had a man with her, presumably to translate. According to Jeffries' testimony, that is not unusual, given the large Spanish-speaking population in Polk County.

Jeffries said that he only started to suspect Mesa when the woman claimed a Beaverton address and presented a Colombian passport and visa as ID...

Between the woman coming all the way from Beaverton to get a drivers license, the man's constant activity on his cell phone (He used it regularly throughout his interview with Mesa, Jeffries said), the brand-new van and the lack of employment by the driver, Jeffries' curiosity was aroused.

"I became suspicious, as this was beginning to look like someone possibly engaged in illegal activity, perhaps drugs or helping people get false Oregon ID," Jeffries wrote in an affidavit.

At this point, DMV Administrator Lorna Youngs says, Jeffries should have called his supervisor, William Halsne. Instead, Jeffries took note of the van's license plate and went inside to pull up its record...

This was not the first time Jeffries has called police when he suspected customers of criminal activity. On April 27, 1999, Fereja Seifu was arrested after Jeffries called police because he suspected Seifu of trying to obtain false Oregon ID cards for Abdulah Ahmed K. Alqubaisi, Hamad Sayah Al Mazrouei and Mansour Almulla.

Seifu stood trial later that year, and he was convicted of the sale of documents for purposes of misrepresentation.

But the three Saudi nationals who'd been with him fled the country...