Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Halt! Temecula Police Department! Just kidding.

Mostly teens order victims from cars, facedown onto pavement

A group of teenagers and a young adult who pretended to be police officers — ordering people out of their cars and onto the ground — were arrested December 27 after a tipster informed police that a video of one of their pranks was posted online.

Mason Gonzalez

Three of the juvenile arrestees were girls; one of the males was identified as 18-year-old Temecula resident Mason Gonzalez, who faces felony charges in addition to the misdemeanor charge of impersonating an officer.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“He’s also charged with false imprisonment,” said Temecula police Sgt. Kevin McDonald.

The other felony charge for which Gonzalez was booked into the Southwest Detention Center was for conspiracy to commit a felony. He posted bail on December 30.

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies reported that at least two incidents occurred on December 23, when the group of suspects allegedly drove into residential areas at night and targeted motorists who were sitting in parked vehicles. The suspects were said to have shined bright flashlights into victims' eyes, then used an amplified megaphone to identify themselves as Temecula police before forcing the victims out of their vehicles and facedown onto the ground before driving away.

“We believe there may be more unreported victims,” McDonald said.

Investigators believe there are as many as five more unreported incidents that took place. One was at 6:45 p.m. in the Harveston Lake area; the other was reported about two hours later, from the 31000 block of Sonoma Lane, which is about five miles across town. Both victims in those cases believed they were being contacted by law-enforcement officers, according to police.


The same day the internet video was discovered, all six suspects were identified, located, and arrested. Authorities are not releasing the video because there are five juveniles involved in the case, McDonald said. He also said the suspects considered the crimes to be pranks and that there were no attempts to harm or rob any of the victims during these incidents.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"

A group of teenagers and a young adult who pretended to be police officers — ordering people out of their cars and onto the ground — were arrested December 27 after a tipster informed police that a video of one of their pranks was posted online.

Mason Gonzalez

Three of the juvenile arrestees were girls; one of the males was identified as 18-year-old Temecula resident Mason Gonzalez, who faces felony charges in addition to the misdemeanor charge of impersonating an officer.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“He’s also charged with false imprisonment,” said Temecula police Sgt. Kevin McDonald.

The other felony charge for which Gonzalez was booked into the Southwest Detention Center was for conspiracy to commit a felony. He posted bail on December 30.

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies reported that at least two incidents occurred on December 23, when the group of suspects allegedly drove into residential areas at night and targeted motorists who were sitting in parked vehicles. The suspects were said to have shined bright flashlights into victims' eyes, then used an amplified megaphone to identify themselves as Temecula police before forcing the victims out of their vehicles and facedown onto the ground before driving away.

“We believe there may be more unreported victims,” McDonald said.

Investigators believe there are as many as five more unreported incidents that took place. One was at 6:45 p.m. in the Harveston Lake area; the other was reported about two hours later, from the 31000 block of Sonoma Lane, which is about five miles across town. Both victims in those cases believed they were being contacted by law-enforcement officers, according to police.


The same day the internet video was discovered, all six suspects were identified, located, and arrested. Authorities are not releasing the video because there are five juveniles involved in the case, McDonald said. He also said the suspects considered the crimes to be pranks and that there were no attempts to harm or rob any of the victims during these incidents.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Next Article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader