Merle Neufield reportedly posted videos on social media while accessing secured areas of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office – claiming that he was a law enforcement official.
The only problem? Nobody at the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s knew who he was.
According to the agency, Neufield was arrested this week for impersonating a law enforcement officer after it came to their attention that the videos were circulating on social media.
Authorities claim that Neufield – who is married to an employee of the sheriff’s office – used his wife’s keycard to access the secure areas and may have had ulterior motives that were thwarted once he was taken into custody.
He was arrested when trying to drive into the secure parking lot behind the public safety complex and was charged with impersonating a police officer and trespassing/loitering with the intent of committing a crime.
“We at the Sheriff’s Office take the security of our facilities very seriously and are reviewing our security policies and procedures to prevent breaches like this from occurring in the future,” the agency said in a statement announcing the arrest. “Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, we cannot share any other information at this time.”
While the agency said in the release that Neufield has no actual law enforcement experience, a search of records at the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services through the California Department of Consumer Affairs shows that a Stockton resident with the...
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