Self-Styled ‘ID Man’ Jailed Again With 1st Trial Pending : Bust: Newport Beach home yields cameras and blank documents that teens bought to get liquor. State officials say he is among worst offenders.

A Newport Beach man who authorities said advertised as “Joe the ID man” was arrested Friday on suspicion of making phony identification cards for minors, his second such arrest.

John Overholser, 27, was already awaiting trial at Orange County Superior Court for allegedly making more than 650 bogus identification documents when he was arrested at his home in the 200 block of Newport Avenue.

“In my 18 years with this department, I’d say that he is the biggest manufacturer of counterfeit documents that we have been involved with,” said Tim Landrus, a supervising special investigator for the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The minors paid between $50 and $75 for two forms of identification, Landrus said. One usually was an out-of-state driver’s license and the other typically was a college identification card.

“He would produce two IDs in case someone asked for a second one for further proof of identification,” Landrus said.

Overholser was one of three men arrested last June after investigators raided a business and two apartments in Huntington Beach and Orange. The three were suspected of making and selling phony identification documents since 1989 from Kitchens to Go, a cabinetry shop in Orange.

Landrus said investigators received an anonymous tip last August that Overholser was back in business. After a five-month surveillance, Newport Beach police obtained a search warrant Friday.

Upon searching Overholser’s home, they found a Polaroid identification camera set up in the bathroom as well as a chair and a backdrop apparently used to produce counterfeit documents.

Also found were numerous blank identification documents, a paper cutter, and a computer and printer. Landrus said this is the same type of equipment seized when Overholser was arrested in June.

“It appears that he was gearing up for operation again,” said DMV Investigator Dennis Svet, who worked on the case.

The operation was first discovered by investigators after a Westminster nightclub reported being flooded with what appeared to be minors passing for 21-year-olds with out-of-state driver’s licenses.

Overholser has been booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of counterfeiting state seals, which is a felony. He is expected to be arraigned on the charges Monday at Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach.

If convicted, Overholser could face up to five years in prison, Landrus said.