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By Perry Green, AFRO Sports Editor, [email protected]
A man in his mid-20s pretended to be a homeless victim of Hurricane Harvey so that he could register as a 17-year-old student to play high school basketball in the Dallas, Texas area, according to reports.
According to Fox 4, 25-year-old Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley posed as a 17-year-old kid name Rashaun Sidney Robinson and enrolled into Skyline High in Dallas as victim of Hurricane Harvey forced to relocate.
“Unfortunately this was a perfect storm,” Dr. Michael Hinojosa, superintendent for the Dallas Independent School District, told Fox 4. “When we had the issue of the Hurricane Harvey in the Houston-area, he took advantage of that and portrayed himself as a victim of that event and enrolled himself in one of our schools.
Gilstrap-Portley then transfered from Skyline to Hillcrest High, where he stood out as a star on the basketball team before his true identity was revealed.
“We have some liberal policies for homeless students, but he knew that,” Hinojosa told Fox 4. “And he took advantage of this opportunity to enroll in Hillcrest.”
The six-foot-two-inches-tall guard apparently fooled everyone until a basketball coach from his alma mater, North Mesquite High School, recognized him and contacted the school district, according to Fox 4. He had graduated from North Mesquite back in 2011.
Gilstrap-Portley ended up being arrested by Dallas Police and was charged with a felony count of tampering with government documents when he filed false enrollment records, Fox 4 reported. He may also face further charges as the mother of one of Hillcrest’s students claimed the young man tried to make a play on her daughter.
“He was popular. A lot of the girls liked him and he was giving her attention though,” the mom told Fox 4, choosing not to reveal her identity. “Even after reading some of their text messages he would say, ‘Like, you know, I know all these girls are saying things to you — but I’m choosing you.’”
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