| For Immediate Release Case # 11HF0768
March 31, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAN TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR IMPERSONATING POLICE OFFICER AND DEMANDING MASSAGE AND CASH DURING FAKE MASSAGE PARLOR INSPECTION
NEWPORT BEACH – A man will be arraigned tomorrow for impersonating a police officer and demanding a massage and $200 while pretending to perform a business inspection of a massage parlor. Edward Justin LaPorte, 47, Mission Viejo, is charged with one felony count of second degree commercial burglary and one misdemeanor count each of misrepresenting oneself as a peace officer, having a concealed firearm on a defendant’s person, and carrying a loaded firearm in public. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison. LaPorte is out of custody on $20,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Friday, April 1, 2011, at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. The time and department are to be determined.
LaPorte was a police officer with the Arlington Heights Police Department in Illinois from 1997 to 2001 and had worked as an officer with the North Chicago Police Department for several years prior to that time. The defendant moved to California after leaving the police force.
At approximately 12:00 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2011, LaPorte is accused of entering Golden Spa massage parlor in Lake Forest wearing a silver police badge on his belt and carrying a firearm in a shoulder holster. He is accused of telling the manager that he was investigating the parlor due to a recent complaint.
LaPorte is accused of walking around the massage parlor carrying and writing notes on a clipboard before demanding a massage because his firearm holster was hurting his back. While the manager was sending a masseuse into a room to give LaPorte a massage, the defendant is accused of undressing and lying naked on the massage table. LaPorte is accused of receiving a 30-minute back massage and telling the masseuse that he was a police officer inspecting the business.
During the massage, the Golden Spa manager called the City of Lake Forest business licensing department to describe the situation. After the back massage, the masseuse left the room and LaPorte is accused of asking the manager to send her back in to massage his front, but the manager refused. LaPorte is accused of getting dressed, failing to pay for his massage, and demanding that the manager pay him $200 for the inspection. The manager again refused.
A legitimate business licensing inspector from the City of Lake Forest responding to the manager’s phone call arrived and identified himself to the defendant as LaPorte was leaving Golden Spa. LaPorte is accused of becoming belligerent and yelling that he didn’t have to answer to the inspector when asked about LaPorte’s inspection. The defendant is accused of then leaving the massage parlor. The licensing inspector and manager wrote down the defendant’s license plate number and contacted the police.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigated this case. Deputy District Attorney Andrew Katz of the Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting this case.