Wanting to become a police officer is a lot more of a process than most people may think. It often involves extensive training instead of simply sending law enforcement out into the field with no prior experience. A California man wanted to be a police officer so badly, he handed out fake parking tickets at a beach in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz Police confirmed that Damian Vela was using a computer system to create the fake citations, which included a QR Code directing those who received the tickets to a website for payment. Law enforcement posted about the incident on Twitter warning people about the scam.
Officers were able to capture Vela in the beach area where he admitted to the crime. The 19-year-old then had his vehicle searched where authorities found evidence related to the scam. Police are not completely sure how many citations Vela issued or if any of the victims paid the “bogus citations.”
When admitting to the crime, Vela claimed he didn’t receive any money from the fake citations. He was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a computer system and attempted fraud after he admitted to creating and issuing fake parking tickets.
Source: https://twitter.com/SantaCruzPolice/status/1606391763974832128