The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has reported receiving multiple reports of an individual that was contacting residents by phone claiming to be with the Yuma or Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. He stated he was a lieutenant and threatened to arrest them for a jury summons or warrant.
On Sat., Dec. 20, 2014 between 5:53 p.m. and 8:35 p.m., the Pinal County Sheriff’s Dispatch received five separate calls regarding an unknown suspect(s) contacting citizens via telephone and threatening to arrest them for a jury summons. In each instance, the suspect claimed to be a Lt. Fred Burns with the Pinal or Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.
The male suspect(s) told three of the victims he would arrest them if they did not go to court. When the victims requested more information, he became belligerent and threatened to come to their homes tonight to arrest them and take them to jail. For those contacted regarding a warrant, the caller demanded payment of $1,500 to avoid being taken into custody.
According to a December 22, 2013 press release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in the State of Oregon, a similar scam occurred last year in their jurisdiction. No suspects were identified.
While the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is actively investigating this case, residents are reminded to use caution when an unknown individual approaches them online or by phone demanding money.
Sheriff Paul Babeu stated, “This criminal falsely identifies himself as law enforcement and threatens to arrest law abiding citizens at their home if they don’t pay up for this false arrest warrant. The public should be aware that we never call regarding warrants and never demand payment over the phone. To our knowledge, there have fortunately been no reports of Pinal residents falling victim to his attempts to scam them out of money.”