GRANITE CITY – Residents of Granite City and Missouri have been charged with stealing thousands from the same elderly victim for nearly two months.
Todd D. Morris, 45, of Granite City, and Branton D. Eldridge, 43, of Florissant, Mo., were both charged on Aug. 13, 2026 with one count each of aggravated identity theft (both Class 2 felonies) and theft by deception (both Class 3 felonies).
From July 1 to Aug. 31, 2025, Eldridge allegedly knowingly used the personal identifying information of another individual to fraudulently obtain $2,000 from the victim, who was 60 years of age or older at the time of the offense.
Morris is accused of knowingly obtaining, transferring, selling, or purchasing the same victim’s personal identifying information and using it to fraudulently obtain $2,000 from the victim during the same time period.
Eldridge was additionally charged with a Class A misdemeanor count of theft by deception and false personation: solicitation. Charging documents state Eldridge falsely represented himself to be another actual person by using that person’s name and assuming their character while taking the elderly victim’s money.
Both cases against Morris and Eldridge were presented by the Pontoon Beach Police Department, and both were ordered released from custody pending trial.
All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
