Laguna Film Director Is Held in 4 L.A. Robberies

LAGUNA NIGUEL — A lost wallet filled with false police identification has led to a Laguna Beach TV and movie director’s arrest on suspicion of robbery, authorities said Thursday. The suspect says he worked on such films as “Love Story” and “Shaft’s Big Score.”

William E. Tannebring, 52, was arrested Tuesday inside the sheriff’s substation here when he tried to claim a billfold found Oct. 1 in a Dana Point street gutter.

Tannebring was arrested on four robbery counts related to holdups in Maywood, Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs and East Los Angeles. Losses were estimated at $2,000 to $3,000.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Basil North said Thursday that Tannebring is suspected of using fake police identification cards to wave people over on the Santa Ana Freeway and rob them.

His method “was to drive alongside a car, show a badge . . . and motion to the driver

to pull over,” North said. “The man would identify himself as a narcotics officer and ask for keys and wallets.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office Thursday filed four robbery counts against Tannebring, who is being held in Los Angeles County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Tannebring is a member of the Directors Guild, according to that professional association. A representative for the guild said directors must submit proof of their film and TV credits before membership is granted.

A resume seized by police in a search of Tannebring’s Laguna Beach home lists film credits such as “Innocent Prey,” “Love Story” and “Shaft’s Big Score.” Among his TV credits are “Make a Wish,” “M.D.,” “That’s Incredible,” and “Here’s to Your Health.”

“But I don’t know how accurate that is,” North said.

Lt. Richard J. Olson of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said the wallet that led to Tannebring’s arrest was turned in by a citizen at the Laguna Niguel substation after he could not find the owner.

Deputies checked the billfold and found that it contained a California driver’s license and police identification from New York, Massachusetts and Atlantic City, N.J., and the U.S. Treasury Department. Investigators later found that none of the agencies had employed the suspect.

North said he learned about Tannebring from a physical description the Orange County Sheriff’s Department sent out on a Teletype to police departments. The characteristics matched those of some suspects reportedly using police identification to rob people in Los Angeles County, he said.

Several robbery victims, Olson said, later identified pictures of Tannebring when shown photographs of suspects.

Deputies then called Tannebring to tell him that his wallet had been found and could be picked up at the Laguna Niguel substation. When he went to get it at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, North and county deputies arrested him.

Subsequent searches of Tannebring’s vehicles and Laguna Beach home turned up two handguns and at least seven law enforcement identifications containing three names. Two authentic IDs were from Dallas, North said, where Tannebring attended an academy for reserve police officers.

Tannebring’s home is perched in the hills of Laguna Beach on Katella Street. It is enclosed by a large wooden fence. Neighbors said that they did not know him and that he had lived at the house no longer than a year.