VENTURA : Sheriff’s Department Notes Name Mistake

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department has announced that it misidentified a man who was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon during a high-speed chase.

John James Jappe, 29, was arrested early Wednesday after he fled from deputies who suspected him of reckless driving on North Ventura Avenue near Ventura. During the pursuit, Jappe allegedly tried to ram the cars of two deputies.

When he was arrested, Jappe identified himself as Kevin Patrick Keifer, the name of one of Jappe’s former brothers-in-law. He was booked at Ventura County Jail under that alias, and a news release was written about the incident using the false name.

The mistake was uncovered only after the real Kevin Patrick Keifer began to receive phone calls on Friday after news accounts were published.

An electronics technician in the U. S. Navy, Keifer contacted sheriff’s officials, who then used fingerprints to determine their prisoner’s identity.

“A fingerprint check confirmed the arrestee was, in fact, John Jappe,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Patrick Buckley. “Jappe has an extensive three-state record with several felony arrests. He has used numerous aliases.”