Inside The Scanner: Fake cop busted by real cops, and real cop busted by fake girl

An Oakland man was arrested before he could arrest anybody else — and jailed for wearing a fake police uniform, toting a replica gun and live ammunition, and even bringing along a German shepherd to a cherry festival in San Leandro, authorities said.

Sergio Taylor, 20, was taken into custody June 1 after officers patrolling the festival said they saw him in a “K-9” uniform with law enforcement insignia on his shirt.

Turns out Berkeley police had issued a warrant for Taylor’s arrest in May after he allegedly wore the uniform at Kip’s Bar and Grill, carried a Taser and pointed a handgun at a crowd of more than 50 people during a fight.

Surveillance cameras showed him trying to get the crowd to disperse by brandishing the gun, said Byron White, a police spokesman.

“It was a cause for concern,” White said. “We’re not trained that way. I don’t know if any security should be behaving that way.”

Police at the cherry festival began following Taylor after he was seen getting into a black Ford Crown Victoria resembling a police car, said Lt. Robert McManus, a San Leandro police spokesman.

Officers found the car abandoned, but then found the suspect in a Ford Taurus with markings that resembled a police vehicle.

They pulled the car over. Police said Taylor was accompanied by a 39-year-old man and a German shepherd. They found a replica Glock pistol under a seat and live ammunition in the car, officials said. Many Bay Area police forces carry Glocks.

“This was a dangerous situation, as Taylor looked like a police officer, yet he is not, and he was carrying a Taser, replica firearm and live ammunition, which he is prohibited from possessing,” McManus said.

Private, unarmed security officers were contracted for the festival, but Taylor was not employed by that firm, McManus said.

The man in Taylor’s vehicle was detained but not arrested. San Leandro police said they released the dog to Taylor’s family. Taylor was being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail.

Investigators said his Facebook and Instagram profiles included photos of him armed with a rifle and noted his employment with an Oakland private security agency.

According to officials, Taylor has a history of faking police credentials. In 2018, he was found guilty of impersonating a federal law enforcement officer while trying to buy a motorcycle in San Leandro.

He paid for the bike with a fraudulent $10,000 check and drove away in an unmarked vehicle outfitted with a siren and emergency lights. Investigators found the motorcycle and police equipment at Taylor’s home, according to a court document provided by police.

Other law enforcement agencies are now investigating whether Taylor is the suspect in other unsolved police impersonations around the Bay Area.

Snapchat sexting prompts cop’s arrest:

An investigation into a San Mateo police officer concluded he used the phone app Snapchat to try to engage in sexual activity with a user posing as a 16-year-old girl, authorities said.

Officer Robert Edward Davies, 40, was arrested on a felony warrant for contacting a minor to commit a felony roughly three weeks after he “chatted about engaging in sexual activity” with a person pretending to be an underage teenage girl, according to the San Jose Police Department.

Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers initially received a tip from a “concerned citizen” who posed as a 16-year-old girl on a number of mobile applications and allegedly connected with Davies on May 11. Police say the tipster researched Davies’ name and learned he is a police officer.

The tipster registered as a 19-year-old user in a fake Tinder account and used filters on the profile photo so she appeared to be underage, police said. The pair moved their conversation onto Kik, a messaging application, where police said Davies believed and acknowledged the user was 16 years old.

Police said Davies eventually invited the fake teenager to Snapchat, where he talked about engaging in sexual activity with her, police said. On the Snapchat app, shared content disappears after it’s viewed by the recipient.

San Mateo police called the allegations against Davies “disturbing.”

“This alleged conduct, if true, is in no way a reflection of all that we stand for as a department, and is an affront to the tenets of our department and our profession as a whole,” Chief Susan Manheimer said.

The alleged crime occurred while Davies, a Morgan Hill resident, was off duty and in Santa Clara County.

San Mateo police said Davies was put on paid administrative leave “as soon as we became aware” of the San Jose probe.

Investigators served search warrants on an undisclosed number of electronic devices, mobile apps and Davies’ home, police said.

Davies was being held on $50,000 bail at Santa Clara County Jail.

The San Mateo Police Department honored Davies in May for graduating from a law enforcement leadership program called Inner Perspectives.

Rattler bites deputy on pot duty:

A rattlesnake bit a Santa Clara County sheriff ’s deputy who was investigating illegal marijuana plots Thursday near Morgan Hill, authorities said.

The rattler bit the deputy on the leg around 1 p.m. when the sheriff ’s Marijuana Eradication Team was “scouting” just east of Mount Hamilton near San Antonio Valley Road. The deputy and team hiked about a mile to their vehicle and drove to a nearby helicopter landing zone, where he boarded a Calstar Air Ambulance that flew him to a local hospital.

The deputy, whose name was not disclosed, was reported in stable condition.

“Illegal marijuana grows and drug manufacturers create an immense danger to not only law enforcement, but the community as a whole,” said Sheriff Laurie Smith.

Despite the snakebite, deputies found hundreds of yards of irrigation pipe, camping supplies and large areas that had been cleared for marijuana planting, officials said.