An Austin man is in custody and facing felony forgery charges after an early morning traffic stop led authorities to fraudulent documents.

Jose DeJesus Morales-Andrade, 32, appeared in Mower Court Friday on two counts of aggravated forgery. He is scheduled for arraignment March 18.

According to a criminal complaint, Morales-Andrade was pulled over at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday when he nearly struck a Grand Meadow squad car in the 500 block of Fourth Street Southwest. A Grand Meadow officer, who was on the way home from work, called in Austin police.

The Austin officer talked with Morales-Andrade, who spoke only limited English, the complaint states. Eventually, Morales-Andrade handed over a badly tattered Mexican driver’s license and wrote his name, date of birth and address on a piece of paper. He also said the vehicle he was driving belonged to a nephew.

The officer looked up the vehicle’s plates and found the truck registered to Jose DeJesus Ramirez-Morales. Noticing that the two names were very similar but not a match, the officer asked Morales-Andrade for further identification. Morales-Andrade handed over his wallet, in which the officer found a food workers’ union ID card in the name “Francisco Rodarte,” the complaint states.

Upon questioning, Morales-Andrade admitted that he used that name to work at Quality Pork Processors in Austin. He said he had entered the U.S. illegally 16 years ago, but had only started at QPP five months ago. Morales-Andrade also said he “bought” his alias from an unnamed Iowa man for $700.

Police requested an received employment records for “Rodarte” from QPP, the complaint states. Morales-Andrade likely faces deportation.