MIKE PORTNOY Imposter Gets Busted After Stealing Spree

The following message was posted on the official DREAM THEATER web site, www.dreamtheater.net:

"Someone has been out on the streets and in bars in New York City claiming to be [DREAM THEATER drummer] Mike Portnoy. This person apparently knew a lot of Mike's intimate business and family details, and as such, managed to convince a number of people that he was indeed the drummer for DREAM THEATER. Using Mike Portnoy's identity, the imposter managed to steal wallets, credit cards, cell phones, house keys, and whatever else he could get his hands on. Fortunately, the imposter was located and arrested [yesterday] (April 2nd) and is currently in police custody. More than four victims have already come forward in the past 48 hours, which helped lead to his arrest.

"In order to build a solid case against this person, we need for any victims to come forward and report their experiences. If you think you may have come across the Mike Portnoy imposter, please contact the webmaster at [email protected] and report any incident that you may know of."

Among the imposter's alleged victims was SAVATAGE guitarist Chris Caffery, who posted the following message on his message board:

"Hello... It is April and snowing. The world hates America and there is a Mike Portnoy imposter running around NYCity...

"You may have noticed that I removed my post about Mike, it was for a good reason.

"Although I have seen band photos and played festivals with DREAM THEATER... I never really knew their faces.

"My friend called me and told me that Mike wanted to say hello. This was last week.

"A few days later in the city I was introduced to who was supposed to be Mike. The guy had the whole bar fooled. Me included. He obviously did a whole bunch of research on Mike and his career and family. He apparently had stolen his wallet and cell phone.

"He had his ID...so who was to know. The guy knew very serious business details and family matters of Mike's. He was even recognized by people as Mike Portnoy when I was with him. He held phone conversations on my phone with supposed mutual friends...

"I got into a room to jam with this guy last week and knew something was up. He was still hammered, but he was not a good drummer. I went on-line to Mike's site and we noticed that although he looked similar he was scrawny and had a space between his teeth that did not exist on Mike's photos. I e-mailed Mike about it. He is aware of this guy and I am going to try to help stop him before he does something to damage Mike personally. By using his name that is. I actually had someone come up to him at the game and say, 'Aren't you the drummer from DREAM THEATER?'

"It is too frickin' weird...

"He was calling drum companies and ordering gear using Mike's name...trying to set up gigs with people and having them send drums to clubs. It seemed weird to me the following day when the guy still had no money on him and was trying to stay at my home again... The whole thing is kinda scary. I am not exactly embarrassed by the situation, I am angered. The guy had a lot of nerve. I am just happy that he did not injure any of my friends or steal anything from me. I think the guns in my room may have made him think twice. Apparently he even got into people's homes using this guise and tried to steal their keys...this was to return later and rob them. Apparently the guy was trying to pick up guys, too… I assure you that he was not doing this in my case, I think I am pretty obvious in my ways, so he was trying to play the party guy to scam into my circles and use my name for is benefit...my friend was trying to get him to fill in on drums for some shows. I think my friend thought me hanging out would be good to help get the guy to play...he thought I was a good name to throw around. I have a message for him if he reads this...Watch your back...

"So...we are dealing with it, trying to find him and stop him before he goes even further.

"I want to apologize to you guys and to Mike and his fans for any misinformation. I also want to ask anyone in NY to be on the look out and try to help identify this piece of shit.

"It was a pretty good act...the ID, the rolex, the drum companies, the phone calls...the guy was pretty convincing. Everyone in the bar was calling him Mike and buying him drinks and talking about his band. He even knew that we played a show together in Sao Paulo...he knew about Wacholz and Jeff... Lesson to be learned here...think before you post, Chris...I had a feeling things were weird, I just followed it up after I let you know."