LOCAL : Tarzana Man Arrested, Accused of Making False IDs for Students
A Tarzana man has been arrested for allegedly operating a small business that supplied hundreds of phony identification cards to underage students from across the country, the Los Angeles police reported this morning.
Alan Sturm, 52, was arrested at 10 p.m. Wednesday on suspicion of forgery of government seals. He was released on $1,000 bail this morning.
Sturm was arrested after two young-looking, rookie female police officers posing as minors went to his tiny office in the corner of a Reseda shopping strip and asked for fake IDs that would show them to be over 21 years old.
Sgt. Richard Ackerman of the West Valley vice squad said there were 10 other underaged youths waiting in line for phony ID cards.
Sturm was arrested after providing each police officer with two cards, one for a state and one for a university. Ackerman said the photo IDs, complete with false birth dates, looked legitimate and even carried state seals on them.
Police seized records that indicated Sturm had made at least $60,000 this year making phony identification cards, for which customers were charged $50 each, Ackerman said.
The investigation was begun after Ventura police told local officers about phony ID cards taken from students in that city.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
