An Oroville, California, man was arrested on suspicion of carrying out a scheme to scam people out of money by wearing a fake military uniform and using a decades-old photo of his disabled son, police said.
According to the Redding Police Department, on February 13th around 12:30 p.m., Neighborhood Police Unit (NPU) officers responded to a report that a man wearing military uniform had stolen $5,000 in jewelry from a body piercing store. responded.
The man, later identified as 72-year-old Bernard Curtis, was seen by witnesses leaving the scene in a silver Jaguar.
However, before Mr. Curtis could leave the parking lot, an NPU officer spotted him and conducted a traffic stop.
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Bernard Curtis of Oroville, Calif., is accused of carrying out a scheme to defraud the people of Redding. (Redding Police Department – Facebook)
Police said Curtis was taken into custody and found to be in possession of stolen jewelry, a “large quantity” of U.S. currency and merchandise stolen from other local businesses.
Police said Curtis intentionally wore what appeared to be a military uniform that was a combination of U.S. Navy and U.S. Army clothing and rank insignia.
Police said the suspect then entered the store with a photo of his disabled son and asked an employee if they could help support his son.
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Police in Redding, California, have arrested a man accused of scamming people out of money by wearing a fake military uniform and using a decades-old photo of his disabled son. (Redding Police Department – Facebook)
Curtis was able to convince the employee to hand over the money, even though the photo of her son was over 20 years old.
During the traffic stop, the two responding officers, both Army and Navy veterans, noticed discrepancies with Curtis’ uniform and recognized it as a fake.
Police said Curtis, a former Navy veteran, lied about how long he had been in the Navy when scamming people out of money.
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Curtis was charged with grand larceny and false military service and uniform for intentionally impersonating and deceiving a person for the purpose of obtaining money.
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Police added that Curtis admitted to carrying out similar schemes along Interstate 5 in several other counties.
