Man Impersonated Rams Player, Authorities Charge

A Riverside man used his resemblance to Los Angeles Rams tackle Darryl Ashmore to steal jewelry from women and scam money from men, going well beyond bar-stool banter to virtually assume the NFL player’s identity in local nightclubs, authorities charged Thursday.

Darryl Bernard Nolan, 25, wore Rams jerseys and an NFL jacket, opened a checking account and rented a pager in the offensive lineman’s name, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

“He went the whole nine yards,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Kelly.

Nolan was arrested by police Tuesday in West Covina. He has been charged with seven felony counts and four misdemeanors, the maximum penalty for which is six years in prison and loss of fake memorabilia he allegedly manufactured, such as autographed footballs.

The counts include impersonating Ashmore, grand theft and petty theft. Nolan is being held at County Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $25,000 bond. No date for his arraignment has been set, and his attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Perhaps because NFL linemen labor in relative obscurity, investigators said that Nolan was able to frequent Southern California nightclubs, including the Red Onion in Santa Ana and the Black Angus in Fountain Valley, passing himself off as Ashmore. Other incidents under investigation occurred in Long Beach and Palm Springs, investigators said.

Beginning in September, 1992, Kelly said, Nolan dated women he met in the clubs, allegedly stealing cash and jewelry from their homes and pawning them, Kelly said. He took money from men, allegedly promising tickets to the Super Bowl and Rams games, which he never produced, according to the charges.

“He splits his victims pretty evenly” between men and women, Kelly said.

One of Nolan’s victims contacted the Rams when she saw a photograph of the real Darryl Ashmore in the newspaper, the district attorney’s office said. The subsequent, monthlong investigation involved the Palm Springs Police Department and National Football League security officials, as well as the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Since news of Nolan’s arrest became public, Kelly said, he has received at least half a dozen additional calls from people claiming to have been duped, some as long as 18 months ago.

“I think there are probably more victims out there,” Kelly said.