Police nab one they won’t call their own

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- He had a plastic police badge and a blue shirt sporting

a fire department patch on the sleeve and drove a blue Toyota Celica

boasting a flashing yellow light on its roof.

But Jesus Delcarmen Delgardo Sanchez is no cop, police say.

On the contrary, the 46-year-old Costa Mesa man is accused of driving

around town impersonating a police officer and stopping cars with lone

women drivers, said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Dale Birney.

Sanchez was arrested Tuesday near the 1900 block of Anaheim Avenue

after an officer spotted him stopping a car driven by a woman about 1:30

a.m., he said.

“When he saw the officer, he quickly got into his car and attempted to

drive away from the area,” Birney said.

But the officer was able to stop him shortly thereafter, he said.

Police found the shirt and a plastic police badge in Sanchez’s

possession, Birney said.

He said police officers usually pass out the smaller plastic badges to

schoolchildren.

“These are about half the size of our badges,” he explained. “They’re

blue plastic embossed with silver and have the words ‘junior police’ on

it.”

Birney said going by Sanchez’s mode of operation, it seemed as if he

was new to what he was doing.

He said Costa Mesa saw another wannabe police officer about four years

ago, when a man rode around town dressed like a cop on a police

motorcycle he had bought at an auction.

Birney said it is not clear what Sanchez’s motives were. The woman

Sanchez was seen stopping Tuesday was gone by the time the officer

returned to the area.

“We don’t know who she was and what [Sanchez] was trying to ask her,”

he said. “But we’re asking her and any person who has been stopped under

similar circumstances to come forward so we can get more information.”

Sanchez was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at Harbor Justice

Center. He is being held on a no-bail Immigration and Naturalization

Service hold, which could mean he is either not a resident of the United

States or that he is an illegal immigrant, Birney said.

He said INS officials maintain regular contact with the jail to find

out whether arrestees are in the country illegally or if they are on

temporary visas, he said.

Anybody who may have been contacted by someone fitting Sanchez’s

description is asked to call Costa Mesa Police Det. Mike Cacho at (714)

754-5340.

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .