Two men arrested for impersonating ICE agents, Anaheim police say

According to Anaheim police, two men were arrested for allegedly posing as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to steal money from Latinos.

Police officials said they responded to several robberies between 5 and 6 p.m. Thursday.. – the first in the 900 block of South Euclid Street and the second at the intersection of Brookhurst Street and La Palma Avenue. Several hours later, they identified the suspects as Laurentiu Baceanu and Vasile Alexandru, 19, a news release said.

According to the victims’ statements to police, the two men spoke Spanish, showed fake badges and began extorting money from local residents. They then drove away in a blue SUV.

Anaheim police listed Baceanu’s age as 19, but Orange County Jail records show he is 20.

Impersonating a federal agent is a felony punishable by up to three years in prison, and they may face additional charges locally. Neither man was armed, police said. Both were held without bail and face multiple robbery charges.

Last year, a San Ysidro man was indicted by a grand jury in Santa Ana for stealing $200,000 from illegal immigrants seeking legal help to resolve their immigration status. In 2018, another man was sentenced to eight months in prison after posing as an ICE agent to extort $5,000 from a woman under threat of deportation.

Anaheim police are working with local, state and federal authorities on the investigation, Sergeant Jon McClintock said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana declined to comment on the case. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a phone call or email request for comment.

Anaheim is not the only community dealing with fake ICE agents, McClintock said. The agency is working with other agencies across California and is investigating similar robberies that have been taking place “across the state for several weeks,” he said. “We believe they are connected.”

He said he knew of at least five identical thefts that had occurred in Anaheim and throughout Orange County. Police are investigating whether there are any other suspects or accomplices involved. Investigators believe the vehicles involved in this series of robberies are a silver or gray Volkswagen Atlas SUV and a blue Audi Q7 SUV.

McClintock asked other victims to come forward. The detective assigned to the case is John Carey, who can be reached at (714) 765-1973 or [email protected]

He added that undocumented victims should not fear for their legal immigration status when reporting a crime because their agency does not cooperate with federal ICE officials.

“We’re not going to ask about their (citizenship),” McClintock said. “It might be relevant, possibly to some kind of crime if that’s related, but the Anaheim Police Department is not going to enforce immigration laws.”