Alleged officer impersonator sentenced for false ID

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT-MESA -- In an unexpected twist to a bizarre episode, a

46-year-old man arrested on suspicion of impersonating a police officer

pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing false identification.

A Superior Court judge sentenced Jesus Delcarmen Delgardo Sanchez to

two days in jail -- time he has already served -- eight days of voluntary

community service, a year of probation and a $100 fine.

Police said they caught Sanchez with a plastic Costa Mesa Police

Department badge, a blue shirt with a fire department patch on its sleeve

and a flashing yellow light on the roof of his car.

An officer arrested him in the wee hours of Tuesday morning when he

saw Sanchez posing as a police officer while trying to stop a woman in

another car.

The outcome of the case has “come as a big surprise to us,� said Costa

Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney.

“This case is done and adjudicated,� he said. “And it happened really

fast.�

But an investigation is continuing as police are looking for

additional victims, he said. The woman whom Sanchez was seen stopping

Tuesday left the scene before the officer could talk with her, Birney

said.

“If we’re able to make additional cases based on the people who come

forward with information, we will try and get [those charges] filed,� he

said. “This whole case has turned out to be very weird.�

But to Superior Court Judge Brett London, who heard the case and

handed down the sentence, it was clear.

He said the district attorney had charged Sanchez with possessing

false identification, not impersonating a police officer.

“The D.A. reviewed those charges but rejected them,� London said. “I

can only deal with what is in front of me.�

Also, London said Sanchez seemed to have a squeaky clean past.

“He had no priors, had never been arrested and had a clean [Department

of Motor Vehicles] record,� he said.

That influenced his verdict significantly, London said.

He added that Sanchez’s sentence was consistent with what he hands

down to others charged with possessing false identification. He called

this “a typical case of possession of false ID.�

Sanchez is being held on a no-bail Immigration and Naturalization

Service hold. He was released to Costa Mesa Police Department on

Wednesday and later handed over to the INS in Santa Ana.

Costa Mesa police are asking anybody who has information on Sanchez to

call Det. Mike Cacho at (714) 754-5340.