DALLAS_A 25-year-old man is facing charges after he reportedly posed as a Hurricane Harvey refugee and enrolled at Dallas ISD schools.
Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley was arrested Friday and booked into the Dallas County Jail, according to court records.
He faces a charge of tampering with government records. He has since posted bond and been released from jail.
Gilstrap-Portley had enrolled under the name Rashun Richardson in August at Skyline High School at a time when the district had opened its doors to hurricane evacuees. It was not immediately clear why he decided to enroll in the high school.
"He took that as an opportunity to gain access to our schools," Dallas ISD spokeswoman Robyn Harris said.
He unenrolled then re-enrolled in October at Hillcrest High School.
The school learned that Gilstrap-Portley may not have been the student he said he was when a former coach from North Mesquite High School saw him playing basketball at the end of April at an AAU basketball tournament, Harris said.
At that point, the Mesquite coach alerted the Hillcrest coach to say that "one of my former players who graduated a time ago is playing for you," according to Harris.
Phillip Randall, a basketball coach at North Mesquite High School, told The Dallas News he wasn't the coach who saw Gilstrap-Portley at the tournament, but that he did coach him until he graduated in 2011.
"He was a good kid," Randall said. "I never had any problems out of him. That's why I was shocked when I heard that all this came out because that's not the kid that I knew."
District administrators began an investigation and an alert was put in place in case Gilstrap-Portley showed up at school, but he didn't return to class after his last day April 25.
Police took him into custody at his apartment, Harris said.
Hillcrest Principal Chris Bayer said in a letter to students and parents Tuesday that the school immediately notified the district and local authorities once it "became aware of a student enrolled at our school under false pretenses claiming to be a displaced Hurricane Harvey victim."
"We believe it is absolutely essential that every young person, especially in times of great difficulty, feels safe and secure, and that was the guiding principle when we were welcoming students displaced by the hurricane," Bayer said. "This is a unique situation that shows us areas that need improving when we open our doors to students in times of need."
