RANCHO CUCAMONGA Jan 19 2020 A suspended security guard with a criminal record was apprehended in the early morning hours Friday for impersonating a police officer and conducting a traffic stop in a Rancho Cucamonga neighborhood.

Avelardo Estavillo was taken into custody on charges of false imprisonment and impersonating a peace officer, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reports.

According to police, a little before 1 a.m., Estavillo pulled over a car in the area of Golden Oak Road and Morning Breeze Drive. Estavillo was driving a Ford Crown Victoria with an overhead light bar, a siren and a decal on the side which read “public security.”

Estavillo told the driver that he was pulling him over for running a stop sign, then called in the traffic stop to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department dispatch.

Deputies responded to find Estavillo at the scene, along with the victim, who told them that he had believed Estavillo to be a real law enforcement officer due to the lights on the Crown Victoria, the sheriff’s department reports.

Deputies searched Estavillo’s car, where they found a dog in the back seat, along with two guns, a collapsible baton, a wood baton, a taser, a bullet proof vest, a security shirt, two duty belts and several rounds of ammo, authorities said.

A background check also determined that Estavillo’s security guard status had been suspended by the state and he had several previous convictions for misdemeanor charges, the sheriff’s department reports.

Anyone else who believes they may have been pulled over by Estavillo in a similar manner is asked to contact sheriff’s detectives at 1-800-78-CRIME.

He is being held on $50,000 bail.

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