A man identifying himself as a Santa Clara Sheriff’s deputy took
money under false pretenses from two Santa Clara County women, in
Morgan Hill and San Jose, after he demanded each woman post bail
for a co-worker, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s
Department.
By Connor Ramey, Special to the Times
A man identifying himself as a Santa Clara Sheriff’s deputy took money under false pretenses from two Santa Clara County women, in Morgan Hill and San Jose, after he demanded each woman post bail for a co-worker, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
In both cases, the man explained that the women’s co-workers were in custody for driving under the influence and needed bail to be posted for them, said Sgt. Rick Sung of the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department. The man was able to give a full description of the co-workers, including the location of their homes, to convince the two women that their co-worker was in need.
But after transferring the money through the bank, the women discovered their co-workers were never in custody but resting at home.
The man received $750 dollars from each woman, Sung said. The money was transferred to an account in San Luis Obispo and was picked up later that day.
In Morgan Hill, the man contacted a employee of a restaurant on Cochrane Road, police declined to name the restaurant.
The man tried a similar scam on a woman who works at a Milpitas restaurant the same day, but was unsuccessful, Sung said.
The restaurant is owned by a former deputy sheriff, who answered the phone and questioned the man, Sung said. The man hung up and didn’t call back once he was questioned by the owner.
The Sheriff’s Department is working with officers from all three cities to find the suspect, Sung said.
“We don’t know for sure, but we believe it is the same suspect in all three cases,” he said.
