Orlando Jaramillo
This guy has always made me sick. He is one of those guys who dosn't go away and is always lingering around the security business. His latest job was training security officers on the use of Tasers and other police weapons. He is a fraud in the highest sense of the word and a scumbag. Yes, that is my opinion..
An Albuquerque man was jailed Friday, accused of posing as a Bernalillo County deputy, and deputies were tipped off only after he failed to pay for police equipment.
Officials say he drove what looked like a cop car, wore a badge, and even went so far as to try to arrest an undercover deputy for a traffic violation.
Investigators say 35-year-old Orlando Jaramillo called a police equipment company, identified himself as a deputy, ordered equipment and then failed to pay up.
The company called deputies, which started the investigation earlier this week, but one neighbor says he was masquerading as a cop for at least two years.
Another neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, says she knows him as something else.
The neighbor said Jaramillo is, "A scam artist, a fraud, um, a liar, a cheat, a bad neighbor."
Jaramillo drove a white Crown Victoria, that neighbors say had lights and a computer in the car. Neighbors also say he was often armed.
The unidentified neighbor said, "He's shown us a gun many times. He's shown his badge many times. There have been incidents where neighbors' houses doors are open, and he'd be the first one out the door with his gun out, kind of like being the hero, the protector of the neighborhood."
After deputies got the tip from the police equipment company, they set up an operation to expose Jaramillo as an imposter.
On Friday morning, deputies say an undercover detective drove in front of Jaramillo's imposter car and swerved, just to see what he would do.
Investigators say Jaramillo pulled the detective over, flashed his badge, and identified himself as a New Mexico State Police Officer.
That's when the real law enforcement moved in.
Investigators arrested him and searched his home. There, they say they found Tasers, a handful of guns and APD, BCSO and state police badges.
Jaramillo faces three felony charges, including fraud, and is being held on a $50,000 cash-only bond. Investigators say he's been arrested for fraud once before.
Comments