VISTA—Authorities arrested Thursday a Vista man for allegedly impersonating a Sheriff’s deputy.
Deputies arrested 24-year-old Abraham Joseph Nava late Thursday afternoon in the 100 block of Wave Drive in Vista. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of one of the fake Sheriff’s Department business cards. In the search of Nava’s residence, deputies discovered several pieces of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department specific uniform items, as well as badges and uniform belt items. They also recovered a box of fraudulent Sheriff’s Department business cards from his residence.
Nava admitted to investigators he falsely represented himself as a deputy sheriff on several occasions. He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility for two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of false impersonation of a peace officer. He is in custody in lieu of $110,000 bail.
“We developed probable cause to arrest Nava and obtained a search warrant for his residence,” Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Jason Scroggins said.
Earlier this week, a resident contacted the Sheriff’s Department after a contact with a man claiming to be an undercover deputy sheriff. Sheriff deputies from the Vista Community Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) Unit began an investigation.
During interviews with several employees from businesses in the Main Street area of Vista investigators learned the man had passed out other fake business cards and was interacting with juveniles in the area. During one reported incident, deputies learned two juveniles were detained by the man and had their skateboards taken.
The investigation is still on-going.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department at (760) 940-4551 or you may call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 with information and you will remain anonymous.
