6 Suspects Caught 'Pretending' to Be Someone They're Not

You're not a police officer, not a worker park register. I worked for parkers.

Okay, I'm out with them anymore.

You are all alone.

You understand why you're detained right now, no?

I don't know. I think I can...

Why you think I was going with you going?

It's okay if I explained some of it.

I should never have been there and through my actions I violated the trust of my family

and everybody in my life that loved me.

What makes somebody wake up and decide to become somebody else?

It's a fair question. When I talk about a social worker who enrolled in high school at the age of 30,

a convicted felon accused of showing up to crime seems dressed as a cop,

a woman accused of stealing a nurse's license and treating thousands of patients.

These people are accused of not only trying to be somebody else,

but breaking the law while doing it.

And one by one, they got caught in law enforcement's crosshairs.

Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber.

So here's the thing about pretending to be somebody or not.

Eventually, usually someone figures it out.

Now what I'm about to get into are some resolve cases, some unresolved cases.

So some of these are just allegations. Some of these actually resulted in a conclusion.

But I just want to give that caveat there because when I talk about law enforcement catching on,

maybe it's a cop who notices your badge doesn't match your story.

Maybe it's a Walmart employee who runs your name and finds out you've trespassed before.

Maybe it's a group of high schoolers who find your yearbook photo from 15 years ago.

So in this episode of Sidebar, we're going to be looking at six cases where people are accused of thinking they could pull off the ultimate identity swap.

Some apparently did it for power. All different circumstances, but they have one thing in common.

They got caught. Now, yes, summer, innocent and so proven guilty, right?

Their cases haven't been resolved as of yet.

But I just want you to hear what we're talking about because wait until you hear what happens when a convicted felon is accused of showing up to a real crime scene

dressed as a SWAT officer when a social worker, what she did after she was already inside a high school for months pretending to be a student.

So we're going to start this off in Port Orange, Florida.

This is where a Florida woman took a fight over a Walmart parking spot way too far.

Her decision to pull out a police badge that didn't belong to her led to her arrest.

And it was all because someone parked where apparently they shouldn't have.

A 41-year-old woman named Alexis Razzotti had written out what she called a citation.

Really, it was just a note on a scrap of paper and left it on a vehicle that was parked in a spot that Walmart had offered to law enforcement partners as a courtesy.

So when the driver came back and saw the note, he confronted her and he started recording.

There's no statute. No, there's not. Show me the statute.

You're the police officer. Why don't you look it up, but why don't you look it up?

But you should already know it.

Tell me what the statute, tell me what the statute is.

Does it say anything about the car would be towed?

You're not a police officer.

No, you're not not with the not with teeth like that, not with teeth like that.

Ma'am, you're not a police officer, ma'am.

You're flashing a badge around it. It says Bellevue.

She's just flashed a badge.

Excuse me. Excuse me, ma'am.

She's flashing a badge around like she's a police officer.

She's not.

She's not a police officer.

Yeah, but you guys are going to tow my call.

No, but thank you.

You heard what she said. The cars can't be towed.

You're not a police officer.

Why are you flashing a badge at me?

Tell me you're a police officer and you're not.

You're going to be in trouble for that.

Where would I get a badge from?

You just carry your badge around when you're off duty.

I'm not off duty. How do you know what I'm doing?

You're on duty with Crocs on?

Do you know what I'm doing right now?

I don't care what you're doing.

I don't care what you're doing. You broke a rule.

There's a rule. There's a difference between rules and laws, ma'am.

That's a rule.

You did not get a ticket.

You can't give me a ticket.

Give me a ticket. I'm going to stay. I'll be right out here.

Please give me a ticket.

I'm asking you please.

A stalking an officer?

Nobody saw me assault her.

So Rosadi seemed to claim on video.

She was an officer from a different jurisdiction.

And the man that she was arguing with, this guy Jason.

Told police she pulled a badge out of her pocket

that appeared to say something like Bellevue.

And that's when he started the recording.

Now Jason took the video to the Port Orange Police Department.

I parked where it says reserved for law enforcement.

Okay.

Partners. Do they have that at the neighborhood one more day?

Yeah. Okay.

I knew they had that at the park there.

Sometimes I have a bone foot today.

So I was like, I'm sorry.

I had literally had to run and get away.

That's just a courtesy. There's no law against it.

Well, thank you.

Yeah. And you're telling me that somebody said something.

So this is the...

Yeah, I'll tell you the note that I came out.

Somebody left this on your car?

Well, I've had her on camera too.

Okay.

She's flashed a badge at me.

And she...

So I went into Walmart to ask them about the note

and about the parking.

Yeah.

Can I get towed for parking there?

Yeah. Absolutely not.

Yeah.

I guess the person who wrote this note overheard.

So I was walking.

I was like, whatever.

I'm walking back out to my car to go home.

And I found this.

So I found that first and when I was walking back

from Walmart the second time,

she comes out, flashes her badge.

She was wearing...

I think white shorts, crocs, and a tank top.

Seeing like...

I'll show you.

Or was it like professional wear?

No.

Like she was working at the time.

No, she claimed that she was on the clock

in Walmart working on something in Walmart.

Walmart asked the managers

because she was talking to the managers.

She said, we don't know what she's going to do.

She may be working.

That's what they said.

Okay, well, whatever.

So I called you guys to see if you all could come up

with a name.

You see where she signed it and printed it?

Yeah.

But...

That's hard to read.

It looks like a barbell or a barnbell.

It's hard to tell.

Yeah.

The anyway, she flushed the badge.

And then I got...

Of course I started reading.

I started recording.

Okay.

So I have it out loud.

I should be able to see who it is.

Yeah.

That's one of our people.

Okay.

So there is a bell-view flower.

It's about two hours away.

So the investigating officer called that department

to double check.

Good afternoon, bell-view police department.

Hey, how you doing?

My name is Sergeant Fischetti.

And I'm with the Port Orange Police Department

over in Volusia County.

This might seem weird, but I'm trying to find out

if you have a certain officer that works there.

To kind of give you a quick heads up.

So there is a kind of a...

Not even an altercation, but some words were exchanged

between some people here at the Walmart.

And one of them tried to identify themselves

as a potential bell-view police officer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't know why they would be way over here.

They even said, well, they showed a bell-view badge

or something, but said they work here in Port Orange.

I'm not sure exactly what it's going to turn out to be.

But one of the leads, I just want to see if this is potentially

something works there, because they left a note on their car.

They wrote that their name was officer.

They put a first initial J.

But then the last name of, like,

barbell or basketball or something with a...

What's that?

Brickcher?

No, it's not butcher.

It looks like it ends in ELL.

Maybe starts with a B.

So somewhere between B.

And it's going to be a female.

A female brown hair, maybe late 30s, maybe 40.

I'm not sure how many officers you have there,

if you would know basically everybody that works there.

Yes, oh no, I trust me.

I know them all.

We don't have many.

Okay.

And this was recently, right?

This was just, you know, within the last hour or so, probably.

The last couple hours.

It was earlier today.

Okay, we have Sergeant Estabelle.

She has dark hair.

She's in her early 30s, though.

Real skinny.

No, so that's a little bit heavier sat.

So, no, definitely wouldn't be considered real skinny.

Let's see, we did have one here over here.

Okay.

Hold on a second.

Sergeant was point four, orange.

Apparently somebody was at Walmart,

posing as a Bellevue officer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hold on.

Okay.

Hey, chief.

It's Sergeant Fischetti over at Port Orange Police Department

here in Volusia County.

So, just kind of a wild shot here.

I don't have much information on here.

A gentleman came to our lobby.

He was over at the Walmart here.

And our Walmart, they have like this courtesy,

like law enforcement parking spot.

And he's not law enforcement, but he had park there,

because he's not disabled, but likes to be close.

Anyway, so he's in that spot.

And somebody kind of confronted him on like,

hey, you can't park there.

And he's like, you know, basically like says who?

And this person says why I'm a police officer,

Bellevue police.

May not even be Bellevue Florida.

Maybe, you know, it could be there's plenty of Bellevue's

all around the country.

Didn't get an actual spelling, nothing like that.

But then she says why I'm working over here in Port Orange.

Because he's like, well, you know, you're important.

She's like, why I work over here.

So it doesn't make sense that you're a Bellevue police,

but you work over here.

But she actually ended up leaving a note on his car.

Like, you know, Port Orange police has been notified

things like that.

And she signs an officer first initial J,

but then like barbell or basketball,

you can't really read the last name.

But it definitely looks like a B.

And then's an ELL.

That would have no females like that.

Okay. Yeah.

He actually recorded her.

So, I mean, if you don't have any,

there's probably no reason to even go through

and even watch the videos and stuff like that.

But she, like from watching it,

she doesn't give me the vibes of being a police officer.

She kind of seemed maybe it might be

a mentally ill person just claiming to be an I don't know.

Yeah.

So I was thinking that route also.

I just wanted to double check with you guys before I start

maybe looking at some other thing.

Maybe even somebody impersonating officer I don't know.

But I mean, I've got one female officer.

She accounted for here.

Yep.

Okay. Yes.

It definitely can't be over here.

Yeah.

Yeah. Okay.

Sounds good.

I appreciate you taking a couple of minutes to talk to me

and I just wanted to make sure.

Yeah.

All right. Sounds good.

All right. Thank you.

Have a good day.

Yeah.

Bellevue police had no idea who she was.

So the officer also pulls up the surveillance video

from inside the store.

And it seemed to show Rizadi walking up

to a Walmart employee, the same one seen in Jason's video.

And that employee later told police

that Rizadi identified herself as an officer

and held up a metal object that could have been a badge.

Now here's where it gets weird.

A different officer had been dispatched to Rizadi's home

that same day for something else entirely.

You see police were looking to wear the Rizadi

who was a caregiver for her uncle James Barquel

might be misusing his money.

Barquel was reportedly experiencing mental decline.

So the officer had no idea about this Walmart situation.

No, no worries.

I wasn't like too worried about it.

You Alexis?

I am.

You want to go back inside and talk?

You want to talk out here?

Yeah, we'll talk out here.

My dad's inside.

Is it about the situation that's just having a Walmart?

Um, so yeah, it's something with a DCF they called us.

Just to come out and do it like the investigation.

This guy is a jerk.

He complains all the time at Walmart what he did was

he was parked in the law enforcement parking spot.

So I left a note on his car that said,

you've been warned.

This is for law enforcement.

What if there was an emergency?

Okay, I don't think that's what I'm here for.

What?

He's talking about, sorry to continue.

I think he might be explaining a different story.

But that's the only.

What's DCF?

Uh, department of child and, uh,

Oh, I don't know anything about.

What's that about?

So, uh, you work with, uh, Jay.

He's a retired police.

Yeah, but you, you help.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

So, so you work with them, right?

Yeah, but my dad was just, you want to go inside?

Yeah, come on in.

Because this does have to do with that.

I thought this is a Walmart.

No, no, no, I don't know anything about that.

Okay.

If they called, we didn't do anything about it.

Yeah, come on in.

It's your coat.

It's my son to sleep, so.

Yeah, well, we'll try to keep it down.

Okay.

Now, when the original officer saw that report,

he noticed something.

That name, Barquel,

looked like the name that was scribbled

at the bottom of the fake citation.

So police went back to Barquel's home

and inside a black wallet,

they apparently found a police badge

and ID assigned to the now retired James Barquel

of the Belleville police.

So when police went to arrest Rosati,

they found that she'd been driving her uncle's car,

which had a second police badge inside.

Officers, they confiscated both badges,

and according to police,

due to Barquel's poor health,

it was unlikely he knew that she had them

or was using them to impersonate an officer.

So Rosati was charged with impersonating a police officer.

She was released on a $3,000 bond.

She later told the local news outlet

that the driver had zipped into the spot so fast,

he almost hit a woman walking in the parking lot,

so she felt she needed to intervene.

But she admitted showing her uncle's badge,

maybe a step too far.

The court record show Rosati entered

a no contest plea to the impersonation charge.

She was given two years probation,

and she also had to pay nearly $1,000

in court costs and fines.

So that case was about somebody pretending to be something

they weren't to maybe scare off a driver.

Our next case,

it is about somebody who pretended to be somebody else entirely

to seemingly get away with a crime

that is almost too petty to believe.

We had to Leaseburg, Florida,

where a bold move inside a Walmart,

yes, another Walmart got caught on camera.

We're talking about loss prevention,

watching very closely as a man helped himself

to a brand new pair of shoes right there in the aisle.

He is accused of swapping out his old kicks

for a fresh box on the shelf,

and then stroll past the registers

like it was no big deal heading straight into the restroom.

That is when Leaseburg police step it.

He is on the bathroom.

Yes.

He is on the bathroom.

You got video on it and see it look like real quick.

Thank you.

Bye bye.

You said the shoes were stolen.

Yes.

What's his camera for me?

He is a black guy wearing a black shirt

and he is a black guy wearing a black shirt.

Yes.

Where is the guy?

He is on the bathroom.

He is on the bathroom.

He is still on the bathroom.

Yes.

You got video, was it?

Let's see the look, I'll pick up what.

Thank you.

Bye bye.

You said the shoes were stolen.

Yes.

This is a black guy wearing a black shirt and he had a sharp face.

So he was just right here, I was watching him on Sweating One.

Somebody was out there on one of your carts.

So I had probably met him then.

So you can see he got flip-flops, right?

That's insured, you know.

Is that the guy with him?

I don't get it.

A lot of guys inside the store somewhere.

There's the shoes on his feet.

There's the black guy with him.

Who's that, can I be short?

Yep.

So he was right here.

And then what he does was put the slippers in that box.

Pack that up back.

Leave the box to the slippers and we walk away.

So we just went into that restaurant.

It's supposed to be coming though.

And we're going to sort of shake him up.

Yeah.

So officers, move in on the bathroom and make contact with the suspect.

What's up, man?

What we got on?

Hey, I...

What's going on?

What's going on?

Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait.

It's got your legs.

What's going on?

I only got my phone on me.

What's going on?

Okay.

What's going on, hello, hello, hello.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

I look's way in there with Heatkin, I don't worry.

What's going on, hello?

Hello, hello, hello.

I look's way in there, too.

What's going on, hello, hello.

Hello, hello, hello, hello.

What up, hello?

Hey, I'll explain something.

Nope, we're gonna explain it to you, okay?

Relax.

All I did was take a sh-

All I did was take a-

Go what's going on?

Tech to Lee's bird one to say

What's going on?

Why I'm not, it's happening tonight.

That's all that we're going to explain to you, man.

All right, what's your name, man?

All right, I'm reading something, okay?

You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say, Canada will be used against you in court.

You have the right to have a lawyer with you prior and during any questioning.

I'm under arrest.

You're the thing.

Having these rights in mind, do you wish to speak and answer questions?

Can I spell your first name for me?

T-A-Y-S-H-O-N, middle initial, and spell your last name.

Did it birth?

I'm going to make it for the honor of you.

I'm going to hold on.

Just take that for me.

Yeah, give us a second.

I love my people out here and I know they're waiting on me.

All right, it's the night of the day here.

You know that we're going to read your rights.

You know what you're in here, right?

Yeah, but that's not the case.

I just listened to what I ever was.

Now please, they'll score it, be alleged.

Bathroom Bandit, over to the security office for questioning.

Do you have a guy who saved me and was you?

Nah.

Take a shot and I'll take part.

I'll take a shot and then he'll take part.

He told it to be his age.

And when did you say your birthday was?

Here's a...

You're just going to have to make a move.

Do you have a partner?

That's my brother.

Take two to take three.

Yeah, this birthday is...

Give me tattoos.

This was T.P. on the back side.

You're making it?

Is one of them his brother?

Yeah.

Okay, that's definitely him.

That's his brother.

That's the brother?

Yeah.

Let me see.

What do you mean we can see?

That's brother.

You okay?

Is that the one on your right hand?

No, right now.

It's time for this work.

Reference to email from the scene,

which we'll have a tattoo of being quincey on the right hand.

What are we doing?

Yeah.

We're investigating the tattoo.

This is her.

I need my shirt.

You're so high.

We're on the screen.

Go ahead.

It's time for work.

That's going to be our subject.

Are you going to say your name, David or again?

What's your first name?

It's going to tell me your first name.

Okay, so you were giving us the wrong name.

And it hurts.

All right.

You said he was trespassing here?

trespassing, and I think attraction.

So I wasn't.

That choice of punish wasn't done not three years.

Trust pass for life.

Yeah.

I wasn't.

Yeah, you can't imagine.

I just had to pay for the hours of the radio.

So how did he admit the fault?

No, we're going to learn how to do that.

When they get to the jail, you can do that.

I just need to let somebody know my son is at the house right now.

And if you're somebody or something?

No.

If somebody is standing by, I'd never know it.

And that will be cool.

You can pick that phone call when you need it to work on it.

It's just crazy.

It's just, it's always something.

It's just not a job.

There's no way I could just get something different.

But like, I know you ain't nowhere really.

Yeah, I'm doing my job, but it's fine.

The thing is, man, I wasn't mind working with you.

But you lied multiple times.

I'm pleased, man.

I know it's something else I can do.

What?

God.

Please, I know it's something else.

It's something I gotta give.

Come on.

I got so much going for myself right now.

So far.

I can't hide it right now.

Please.

Please, my son is the criminal.

You should have probably thought about this beforehand.

She's calling the PS.

I'm not entering a phone.

Please, have some phone.

Please, have some phone.

Please, have some phone calls.

Please, have some phone.

It's crazy, man.

Oh, shit.

Oh, shit.

So I gotta face the judge.

Yeah.

So I know my...

I've never seen her like this many times.

And I got into it.

I don't know what it is.

Please, I don't know something.

Do you want to go get the green?

Put them and I can take care of this.

Or...

Please, I have no something.

Yeah.

I'm going to kick those shoes out.

Please, I don't know something.

I just want to smell it.

I don't know something.

Please, stand up.

Is she going with her?

They don't want me to talk on a phone.

Nothing for a good trip.

What's wrong with them?

They stand up.

It's my fiance.

I'm just going to run after you.

What's wrong with them?

I'm just going to play all right.

I need to get them.

They would out of something.

We ain't got no money for that.

You can see a prospect.

Help me out.

Help me out.

Help me out.

Help me out.

Help me out.

So the man told officers that his name was Tashon Penelis.

He gave them a birthday.

He said he didn't have any ID.

And the officer kindly collected his contact information

so his wife could bail him out.

But when the lost prevention associate pulled up that name,

something didn't match.

The photo on file for Tashon Penelis

didn't look like him.

This batch ran the tattoos and confirmed

what officers were already suspecting.

The man wasn't Tashon.

He was Taekwan Sharif Penelis, 23 years old,

and Taekwan had a problem.

He had been accused of trespassing from this Walmart before.

When they asked them about it,

he reportedly said he didn't know the trespass warning was still active.

And as for the shoes,

he said he didn't intend to steal them.

He seemingly claimed he just had to use the restroom before he paid.

But when officers asked for his wallet, cash, bank card,

he reportedly didn't have any.

All he was apparently carrying was a vape and a cell phone.

So the shoes were valued at $49.99.

They were taken from Taekwan returned to Walmart staff

and Taekwan was arrested for retail theft after allegedly trying to walk out of this store

in a new pair of shoes.

And oh, by the way,

who was the person that he's accused of impersonating?

He's accused of giving officers his brother's name when he was caught.

Now, what happened after the arrest?

Whether he took a plea deal or served time

or went to trial less clear,

we couldn't find more information about that.

But I will tell you,

that's a story of one guy who allegedly pretended to be his own brother

to get out of a shoe theft, right?

That's the accusation.

But what happens when the person accused of pretending to be somebody else

is actually a former cop

and what they're allegedly pretending to be is still a cop.

A former cop in Illinois got pulled over for expired registration,

simple traffic stop, right?

But when he opened his wallet to get his license,

the officer apparently saw something that turned a routine stop

into a criminal investigation, a police badge.

It's happened back in February of 2025 in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

So a Cook County Sheriff's Deputy pulled over a man named Scott Pearson

for expired registration.

Now, Pearson appeared to be cooperative.

He explained that he renewed his tags,

but there was a mix-up with the spelling on the plate.

Hey, Dewey.

How's it going?

How's it going?

Cheers, please.

Very nice.

I stopped you for the expired tags.

Yeah, I renewed them,

and then I got the soldered plate wrong.

It's not stolen because, you know,

there ain't no one's on plate.

And then I went to renew it again,

and they said that I had to go get them.

I wish he could pass it again, so.

You're from Martinson?

Park Ridge.

Park Ridge?

Yeah.

Okay.

Give me a second, okay?

So the deputy went back to his cruiser

to run Pearson's information,

and when he returned,

he noticed something in Pearson's wallet.

You have an ID?

What?

Yeah, he's knowing I have one on me now.

I work for Park Ridge.

I work for Park Ridge.

Okay.

I'm out with them anymore.

Okay.

So, is there a reason why you're carrying that, then?

There's just the wallet I've always had.

I don't.

Okay, can you see it again?

Yeah.

Can I have it?

Yeah, we can take the badge if you want.

Okay.

Give me a second, okay?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So Pearson apparently said he worked

for Park Ridge Police,

and then seemingly corrected himself

that he worked there past tense, right?

He wasn't with them anymore.

The badge seemingly was just in the wallet

that he always carried, that he didn't use it.

But the deputy took the badge,

called Park Ridge PD to verify,

and they confirmed Scott Pearson

was no longer employed there.

Public records appear to show

that he worked for Park Ridge PD

from 2020 to 2023,

and his separation date was listed

as February 29th of 2024.

He's been inactive for nearly a year

when this traffic stop happened.

From there, a Cook County deputy

was called to assist with the situation,

and that is when things escalated.

What's in it?

Scott.

Let's go on that, bro.

Scott, how you doing?

I'm doing me a favor.

Step out the car real quick.

Yes.

Do you have anything on you?

No, sir.

No weapons.

Not do we need enough?

No.

Okay.

Step up.

Face right here.

Face the one in the front here.

Change up real quick on the car.

Hey, 39.

Sorry, got nothing on you.

No weapons on us?

No.

All right.

Let me see if we change back in your back.

Yep.

Hey, 39.

Oh, yeah.

So you're just being detained at the moment?

Okay.

Just some questions.

Investigate everything.

No, I can't.

You are no longer employed by Park Ridge.

Correct.

Okay.

So what's the reason you're showing

our officer the badge?

I didn't try to open my wallet.

I know, but when you're

okay, when you have been terminated

from a police department or anything,

you're not allowed to carry any police.

I've done any, you know,

badge, you know, nothing, anything at all,

because that's pretty much your in-person

in a police officer,

which you are no longer a police officer.

Yeah, I didn't state I was a cop.

But you still have a badge on you, right?

And you showed him the badge.

And you said you used to work for Park Ridge

or Burridge or wherever it was, right?

Yes, you.

If you remember, I asked the,

is that Arlington that you said

no, that's Park Ridge.

I said no, I worked for Park Ridge.

Yeah.

Okay.

You worked for any other department

at the moment, anything?

No.

I said I worked.

Okay.

Yeah, the deputy explained why this was a problem.

Pearson was no longer employed as a police officer,

yet he was accused of carrying around a badge

and in Illinois,

that is impersonating a peace officer.

Now Pearson seemingly insisted he had

and shown the badge intentionally.

He just opened his wallet and it was there.

But then the deputy noticed something else

on Pearson's SUV.

Does this car have lights?

No.

Because we see the lights on there.

They don't work.

No.

Where's the switch at that you would activate them

if you did have them?

It was underneath the front when they don't work.

I don't mean the floor board.

It's my wife.

Things right here?

It doesn't work.

It doesn't work.

It doesn't work.

Like I said,

I had, yeah.

They were there when I

said it's too big to work there.

That's the ball that we fly.

Yeah, so look, Pearson reportedly said

the lights didn't work.

But you had this deputy who appeared to be skeptical.

So he reportedly searched the vehicle,

found a plug,

and activated the lights.

Where are police lights?

Hey.

They do work.

They're working.

They're flashing.

So the vehicle does have,

as you can see,

police lights in the front.

Yeah, the lights appear to have been working,

seemingly flashing.

They apparently had been installed by Pearson himself,

you know, the switch for the emergency lights.

So the deputy lighted out for him.

You have police lights on the vehicle

that you're standing apparently don't work,

but you have lights on here.

You're carrying around a badge,

and you're not a sworn police officer.

So that's all of impersonation,

impersonating the police officer.

When I was working there.

Okay, so you understand

when you get terminated from a job,

that should automatically come off.

That should not be on your vehicle at all,

because now you have these on your vehicle,

and you also have a badge.

So how do we know?

You're not pulling somebody over.

You can say, yeah, they don't work right now,

but there's something you could probably go under the hood,

connect them,

and you can start pulling people over

and acting like you're still the police,

and you're not.

So that's all evidence of impersonating a police officer.

Which at the time,

you should just turn your stuff into a park ridge

or wherever it was.

Except the badge,

you should turn the badge in as well.

Yeah, go ahead.

Could you enter that?

I'm supposed to,

my baby mama,

I'm supposed to be in my kids.

Okay, give me a second.

Okay.

Okay.

This one or, yeah,

because we're going to be right here anyway,

because we don't want to be too far.

And then we'll go from there

after we see the search that's right now.

You got none in the back, right?

Right.

Let's see.

Okay.

Got it.

You got it?

Yeah.

Turn your foot.

You got to turn your foot somehow.

Yep.

Turn your body.

There you go.

Let me get this.

And you can call on my boss

because I was going to go back

with that person that you got either.

Was that true?

A retirement parker for one of my wife's tonight.

I understand, but you see where we're coming from, right?

If I'm a police officer right now

and I get terminated,

and I carry a badge on me,

and open up my wallet,

and I have a badge there,

and I have a vehicle

that actually police selects still on it,

that's reflects.

At my point, I would say,

you know what?

I'm terminated.

I'm going to need to get rid of this badge,

turn this back into them,

and I'm going to take these lights off this vehicle.

Okay.

Well, we'll talk about that.

Was there any reason behind the registration again?

Yeah.

So Pearson was arrested

for impersonating a police officer

issued multiple traffic citations,

and during the booking process,

one of the deputies

seemingly answered his phone when it rang,

and appeared to be the mother of his child calling.

Hello?

Hello?

This is Officer Pereo

with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Department.

I don't know who the guy is that you're calling.

I think...

Okay. He is being detained at the moment.

He is being arrested for impersonating a police officer.

So he's going to be in custody.

He will be going down to the station at Maywood.

He will have probably

a court hearing tomorrow to see what his bond is going to be

if they're going to bond him or give him a bond.

And his vehicle will be seized.

It's going to be towed

because there are police lights on the vehicle

that are actively working as well.

So right now, this is an investigation.

So he is being detained.

Okay?

Once he gets his phone call from the station,

he'll probably give you a call.

Okay.

Thank you.

Bye.

So Scott Pearson was cited,

released after booking.

He was indicted in March of 2025,

a one-count of impersonating a police officer,

and according to Cook County Court records

as of the latest available information,

Pearson's case remains pending.

He was not in custody.

So by all accounts, he's a waiting trial

on that impersonation charge.

So that's a story about a former cop

who allegedly couldn't let go of the badge, right?

But our next case,

it is about somebody who never had a badge,

never had a license to begin with,

and was accused of putting thousands of patients at risk

pretending to be something she wasn't.

A Florida woman,

who spent nearly two years working at a hospital,

treating thousands of patients

all without a nursing license.

And she might have gotten away with it

if she hadn't gotten it a promotion.

Yeah, this one went down in Palm Coast, Florida.

29-year-old woman named Audem Bardesa

was arrested in March of 2025,

and the body cam footage from that morning

shows she seemed genuinely confused

about why she was being handcuffed.

Hey there.

Are you at home?

Yeah.

Can you step out of the car for me, please?

Sure.

Why don't we just turn around,

put your hand on your back?

Oh, wait.

What's going on?

Put your hand on your back.

Okay.

All right.

All right.

Hold on.

Hold on.

Hold on.

Can I ask?

What's going on?

We have plenty of time to talk.

Just give us just a minute.

Yeah, we'll take care of all that.

Can I come like this?

Tell us in the comments.

Can you go over here?

Yeah, you can keep doing it.

Any other weapons, please?

Do you want to go over here?

I'll go over here.

I'll come over here.

I'll come over here.

Hold on.

Just one moment.

I'll scare you.

So, let me just tell you,

there is a felony warrant for your arrest, okay?

The bond, there is a bond on it, okay?

Which is good.

I believe 70,000 is the bond amount, okay?

So, you can bond out.

What?

What?

What?

You know what all this is about?

Not really.

I kind of had something with the Department of Health

that I have my license.

Okay.

And I had thought it was squared away

because it's clear and active.

Okay.

So, that does stem from this.

We were contacted, not need directly,

but some guy with helping human services reached out to you

a couple of months ago.

Yeah, and I had had an attorney,

and I had an attorney.

Okay.

So, the attorney reached out to him and said

that you were currently being represented,

and all that other stuff.

Yeah.

I'd love to have a conversation with you,

but if you're represented by an attorney,

and that's somebody that wants to be here for all the,

that kind of questioning,

then, obviously, I've limited it on.

Where this conversation came from.

Can I know what?

There's a felony.

It has to do with medical fraud.

I can get the exact,

I don't remember off the top of my head,

but it has to do with medical and stuff,

stuff like that.

Okay.

You have seven counts of identity theft,

and seven counts of practicing without a license.

And this does stem from everything

with the Department of Health

and the Department of Health.

I mean, you're already aware of it.

You're getting statements to them

to other investigators before.

This is just your first time meeting me.

Okay.

I did.

So, no.

I've been with the other guys

whenever they're doing their investigation,

but I was not facing the face with you.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

So.

Can I just call my phone at least?

Yeah.

Well, no worries.

We'll let you do all that.

Now,

we can't just take the handcuffs off you,

because, I mean,

I know you're saying you're not going to fight,

but I mean, you've seen TV,

you watch the movies, like you see.

I've never had a little record of never done anything.

I'm not saying you have.

Okay.

But we just don't want to,

we don't want it to escalate to some place

that we put it.

Because we take the handcuffs off you.

But what we can do is get the person

who's watching your child,

and if you want to tell him what's going on,

you certainly can.

I mean,

or if you want us to tell him.

Can I call them?

Can you just take them off so I can call them on the phone at least?

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's fine.

No, no, no.

We'll grab your phone and put on speaker for you.

Yeah.

We'll grab, we'll grab your phone and put on speaker.

And the point is,

is that I'm not saying you're going to do anything,

we take the handcuffs off,

that gives you,

that puts it there, okay?

Okay.

Good time.

Or today.

Yeah.

Can you go to a recent call?

And then, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Turn it out for you.

Yeah.

Looks like your front door's open.

Yeah.

Yeah, please.

Did you want to step inside out the heat?

Four seconds?

Yeah.

I mean, anyone else inside the house?

I've got your keys.

Okay.

Can you...

Can anyone...

Is anyone else inside the house?

Just my dog,

but he's...

Can you just be taken off?

I won't do anything.

We can't take them off right now.

Okay.

Yeah.

I mean, like I just said.

Yeah, I'll just move my car in the driveway.

Yeah.

So Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staley held a news conference

after her arrest.

He called us one of the most disturbing cases of medical fraud.

His office had ever seen.

We believe that there were over 4,400 patients

that she was in one manner or of another.

That was involved in care at Advent Health Palm Coast,

which is our newest hospital in Flagler County.

So, how did this happen?

Well, according to the Sheriff's Office,

Bardesa graduated from Rasmussen University in March of 2022.

Advent Health had hired her in July 2023

as an advanced nurse tech,

it's a position that works under the supervision of a registered nurse.

On her application,

she indicated she was an education first registered nurse,

meaning she had completed nursing school

but had him pass the National License Exam yet.

So, investigators say that during that hiring process,

she later claimed she had passed that exam

and provided a license number that actually belonged

to a different nurse, a real-life nurse.

And when the hospital circled back

to check on her licensing status,

Bardesa told them that she was scheduled to take the exam

and then a few months later,

she told an HR specialist that she'd passed

and obtained her license,

and she provided a license number that came back as valid,

but again, it belonged to another woman named Autumn.

Oh, yeah, another woman named Autumn, a different autumn.

And Bardesa told HR that she'd recently gotten married

and her last name had changed,

and that's what's going on here.

So, the license might not reflect that yet.

This HR person told her to upload a copy of her marriage certificate

to the hospital's database,

that never happened, and no one apparently followed up.

So, according to the arrest documentation

because of that oversight,

Bardesa was allowed to start the nurse residency program.

She graduated in June of 2024,

except that a position as a registered nurse at Advent Health.

And here's the part that really gets you.

She was caught because she got a promotion.

In early January of 2025,

Bardesa was offered a position as charge nurse.

That is a promotion that sparked a lot of interest from her colleagues,

because an unidentified nurse checked the status of her license

and discovered the only license Autumn Bardesa had

was an expired certified nursing assistant license.

That prompted Advent Health to start an inquiry,

and they asked Bardesa for that marriage certificate,

that marriage license that she never provided.

Sheriff Staley laid out the charges at the news conference.

They fired her two months later.

They notified us of the incident,

which began a seven-month investigation.

And the reason it took seven months is you have to remember

that we are trying to thread the needle on hippolaws.

And so we have to have victims.

We don't know who the victims are.

And we also have to work with the hospital

to obtain victim names.

And so that requires subpoenas and investigation,

and that takes a while to complete.

Now, with 4,000 over 4,400 victims, if you will,

in this case, we worked with the seven circuit judicial

state attorney's office, which is RJ Larissa,

to determine how you can't really charge 4,400 counts.

I guess you could, but it's going to significantly

bog down the criminal justice system.

So the time that she was employed as what they thought

was a fully certified RN was seven months.

So they charged one count for each month

that she worked at the hospital as allegedly a fully licensed

authorized RN.

So that's why it's seven counts.

Seven counts of practicing medicine

without a license, basically, in seven counts of identity fraud.

Go to a hospital, and you trust that the hospital staff

is fully licensed, prepared to serve you

and whatever your medical need is.

And so you have to have faith in the system.

And I think in this case, it showed that there was some flaws,

at least, in follow-up, and a very trustworthy hiring process

when you say, I just got married.

That's why my last name is different.

And they asked her to provide, but there was no follow-up.

So I think there were some mistakes made in the hiring process,

but you can deal with the advent health on that,

because we only look at the criminal case

and what led up to it, what caused it.

To our knowledge, there's no serious injury or death related

to this incident.

And she must have done a good job, even though she wasn't licensed,

because they were looking at a promotion to the charge nurse,

which is what triggered the review of her file

and ultimately how she got caught.

So, Birdisa was initially facing seven counts of practicing

as a health care profession without a license

and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information,

so 14 charges in total.

But the court records show that in August of 2025,

prosecutors took no action on 12 of those charges.

Now, by the way, after that whole back and forth of the promotion

and not being able to find the right documentation,

she was terminated on January 22, 2025, by the way.

So, at that point, according to work documents,

Birdisa had allegedly been providing medical services

for approximately 4,486 patients from June 2024

through January 2025.

Multiple media outlets, they reached out to advent health for comment

and the hospital responded with a statement,

we do not comment on private personnel matters

or pending legal matters.

All inquiries should be directed to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.

Fast forward to April 7, 2026, just happened.

Birdisa entered a plea and was sentenced to five years of probation,

avoiding prison time, but barred from working in the medical field.

So, that is somebody who was accused of pretending to be a nurse

treating thousands of patients without a license.

Our next case, it's about somebody who allegedly pretended to be a cop

and took it so far that real officers seemingly thought he was one of their own.

So, we got this guy from Washington State.

He's accused of showing up to active crime scenes,

flashing a badge, telling responding officers he was one of them,

and when they started asking questions,

that's when his story allegedly seemingly unraveled in ways

that you really have to see to believe.

This happened in Bremerton, Washington,

back in September of 2025.

So, police were responding to reports of a fire in a parking garage.

When a man pulled up in an unmarked Ford Explorer,

apparently with flashing blue lights,

he is accused of wearing body armor with police and SWAT patches,

a metallic badge that looked like it came from the Edmunds Police Department,

and he was apparently carrying a gun.

His name, Michael Skeleta Teets, 49 years old,

and when he got out of the SUV,

he is accused of walking up to the Bremerton officers

and telling them he was an off-duty detective from Edmunds.

Now, at first, the officer believed him.

One officer, even admitted on camera,

that he thought Skeleta was one of their detectives,

but Skeleta is accused of spinning this whole backstory.

Twenty-seven years retired from Baltimore City,

worked for Thurston County Sheriff's Office,

now with Edmunds PD and the Gang and Intelligence Division.

Take a look.

Were you all the former here?

They asked us to come outside.

I thought it was for you.

Who else, come on, sir?

I don't know. He's on the phone with me.

No, I thought I was following him.

I thought you guys needed help with that.

No, we thought I'm confused right now, man.

It's been my first day back in a while,

so I was out with COVID and it was bad.

Okay.

It's been a while since I've been back here.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, 11th time, happened.

And it was the worst.

I had to go outside.

I had to go to the hospital, get breathing treatment.

Yeah.

It was bad.

They hurt the talk.

Okay.

It was.

I'm good now.

I promise.

Nice.

Right on, man.

Just getting back here at the Zath,

and there was some talking with the shift chains

and debriefing with him.

I don't like to speak, but like they made it out way worse.

Oh.

What is it?

Yeah.

What's going on?

Yeah.

You popped out and I was like, I was like, yeah.

I thought you were like one of our detectives.

I know some of the guys will put the task force,

but it's really with the shift.

What do you say?

Uh, yeah.

Try that way then.

Well, you're the best judgment.

Yeah.

You're growing.

Okay.

Yeah.

I feel more of the role in probation than anything, um,

with, uh,

over there at, um,

the conception department, the detectives over there.

I know more of those guys than anything out here.

Okay.

All right.

Yeah.

Um, right on that.

How long have you been?

How long have you been?

Uh, well, so I retired from Baltimore City at the 27 years.

Um, came out here.

Um,

It took about a year for me to end up going back into a business.

I went with firsts in at first.

First and serious part.

Uh, there's a lot, a lot of things going on.

And they wanted to put me in the jail.

I was like, no, I've got that many.

Uh, I've been, I know a lot of detectives from,

uh, from the gang network and stuff like that.

The anti-narcotics training on base every year.

Yeah.

Uh, guys that nearly had an end.

That's, uh,

see if it gets you on.

It had to go back to, uh, get the Washington Post and RCWs.

Uh, a long event is actually with events.

About two years.

Two years?

Yeah.

Day.

Yeah.

Um,

Yeah.

Two years.

Robert.

Hey, it was, I started with robbery and now,

but it begins until it's.

Hey, it's pretty hardcore.

Um, you're gonna fix it right?

Well, man.

Hey, I just want to, I just got to stop.

I'll fix it.

Just a little by the way.

A little.

Just a little.

Yeah.

A little.

Are you going to be back here tonight?

I'm working a card or something.

Oh, yeah.

I'm, I'm working all night.

So.

Yeah.

You'll see me.

I'll be out here all night.

Alright, man.

Cool.

All right.

I wish you were here.

Austin, trust.

Sorry.

Trust.

But here's the thing.

Something felt off.

The officers seemed to notice that his flashlight was seemingly

positioned behind his firearm holster.

That's a problem because it would make it very, very difficult if not impossible to draw his weapon.

And his body camera looked like not the standard one from axon.

And the story about working security at the Salvation Army.

Well, being an active detective, that seemingly raised eyebrows.

So the next day, officers went back to the Salvation Army.

They asked him to produce a commission card.

It's the official ID that proves your law enforcement.

Can I see another unit?

Please.

Yeah.

So we're from security for you.

Yeah.

That's a good moment.

Yeah.

Is that guys?

I'll be back shortly.

Are you sure?

I'm good.

You want to come back over?

Yeah.

I was talking to some of the guys.

You work for Edmunds.

I did.

Okay.

Yeah.

And this is a part-time gig.

Yeah.

Give me a minute.

Yeah.

You got it on the saw?

Yeah.

You got it on the saw.

Yeah, it's got a gun in there.

He's going to it's in my other bag. Oh, okay. He's grabbing it now. Okay. I'm here almost every other week every other week

Yeah, and then I'll also work down at the K. R.M. Okay, what's your phone name?

mezzi

skeleta

mezzi wife

SCA

L-E-T-A

Your first name is mezzi

mezzi

Z-Z-Y

skeleta

SCA

L-E-T-T-A

Okay, what's your millinitial?

Anthony

So he gets back up. What's a good friend number for you?

Hey, man

Yeah, it's really be the green bag and it's got the my wallet with the credentials and everything from the side.

And the no upstairs upstairs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, my my apologies. Thank you. But can you?

Sarge, can you stay over?

Yeah

He's crying. All right, I'll see you in a minute.

So skeleta is accused of stalling credentials weren't his bag. They were upstairs. Then he

Allegedly started digging through a lunch bag that only had Coca-Cola's and an empty badge holder.

So the officers move in. They pat him down and this is when they find a loaded firearm.

Is it a loaded firearm that you have with you Mr. Skeleta?

Correct. Okay, can you put your hands in the car please?

No, familiar with the retention of this whole service keeping hands are there.

Can we not do this in front of everybody really?

Yeah, you can just like keeping hands on that.

Yeah, I've heard you jump off me.

Yeah, I can't tell if I can do this in a jewellery.

Getting another firearm down here.

No, sir.

So you're not into a rep right now?

Yes, sir.

Wow.

Can you call my...

Yeah, we can take care of all that.

Yes, we can take care of all that.

We can make all the phone calls.

It means we double that.

All right.

And so it's credentials.

What agency do you say you're at?

I do.

You with that.

Okay.

I understand the whole process.

Yes, I did.

Okay.

Mr. Skeleta?

Yes, please.

Mr. Skeleta, you have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can be used against you in the court of law.

You have the right to talk to a lawyer and have him present with you while you've been questioned.

Now, if I'd afford to hire a lawyer,

one will be a point to represent you before you're questioning if you wish.

You can decide at any time to exercise your rights.

Not answering any questions or making any statements to understand.

And are you not facing me, Chris?

I'm just gonna write this.

We'll put something down there, then.

Is that good?

Very good.

We're hearing them.

Mr. Skeleta, Sam Charles, Adam Lincoln, Edward Tom Tom.

Adam.

First, a mezzi.

Mary Edwards, you were young.

Middle eight, Anthony.

1976.

0800.

Missy A. Skeleta's what he gave me?

Yeah, that's what I wrote down from the report.

You're sorry?

What'd you say, Danielis?

Nice to see you.

Is it okay if I check your facility?

Absolutely.

If you scratch my credentials and everything out there.

Yes.

Where is it at?

In the front.

It's okay.

Actually.

Is it through?

Hey, where the radios are?

It's the other dog.

Yeah, it's there.

Sorry.

I appreciate Michael.

Tim Middle last of Skeleta, Hythane B.

He said, Tim Dadebird, is returning with a below record out of the base.

No doubt that was driver's license.

What did he say?

When they ran his information, here's what reportedly came back.

Skeleta was a convicted felon.

Back in 2016, he had a serve time for a felony bomb hoax out North Carolina.

He didn't even have a valid driver's license.

And when they called Edmunds PD, they reportedly said he doesn't even work there.

So what made this case particularly alarming after everything I'm saying was that Scaletta

wasn't just, you know, allegedly wearing the costume.

According to police, he had been actively responding to calls.

Earlier that same night, he'd shown up to a trespassing call or is accused of showing

him to a trespassing call at a 7-Eleven.

He was accused of essentially patrolling the downtown corridor, armed wearing a police

vest and asserting himself into real-life law enforcement situations.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Was your first time?

M-E-Z-Z-Y.

M-E-Z-Z-Y.

I'm sure.

So you understand why you're detained right now and I don't know.

I don't.

I don't know.

I think I can.

Why are you going with me going?

Okay.

Is it okay if I explain some of it?

Sure.

Okay.

So first off, if you are a commission police officer in this state, you'll be taken out of

cuffs and I will formally apologize.

Thank you.

No problem.

Okay.

So here's a couple of problems.

I'm one of the supervisors in the city right now.

If Salvation Army is hiring a uniformed commission law enforcement, it was going to be carrying

badge, gun, vest, especially not in our agency.

As far as I'm concerned.

Let me finish.

Let me finish.

Let me finish.

First of all, I did not have a weapon on, while I was on duty.

And I, like I was leaving.

I'm all duty.

I was leaving.

Okay.

Okay.

So that's the number let them explain.

Okay.

Let them explain.

Sure.

Go ahead.

with detective badge, police badge,

I think the swap badge somewhere on there as well.

Right, in our jurisdiction,

and we haven't been notified that,

hey, a sub-Asian army is about armed law enforcement.

That's not true.

You might have just been going from your employment,

to your car.

However, when we came across you,

you're uniformed and armed.

When we came across it, that's an accurate statement.

So the concern is, the concern is,

especially because we weren't given notification, right?

I'm not operating.

I'm not doing, I'm not working.

I'm not.

Here's the problem, maybe.

It's messy, right?

There's the problem that you're leaving.

Even if you're leaving,

sub-Asian army, this is the number one crime hotspot

in the entire city for us.

I know, let me talk to you.

I'm going to retire.

I'm going to retire.

OK, 27 years.

I come out here.

OK, I mean, I get you.

I'm going to retire.

Well, I don't, I think we're not,

we're getting our wires crossed a little bit,

because what I'm trying to get you to understand is,

I understand that you're just leaving, if you're off duty.

But if you know that this is the highest primary area, right?

If you know this is the highest primary area in the city,

and you know that that's likely to be

the law enforcement experience that we're going to be in the area,

probably not the best idea to be wearing a vest,

armed, going to and from, because it's

going to make us think something's up to,

up to and including possible criminal and first nation

of a police officer.

That's why you're detained.

We get all that checked out.

And you know what, this might be an error for their bosses

and our bosses, because if this is all true, right?

And we weren't, and we just weren't notified,

that that's what could have solved this as an emailer,

saying, hey, just so you know, there's a guy,

he's law enforcement, he's being hired off duty,

a Salvation Army.

You may see him come and go from the parking lot.

That's what we'd say.

Sounds good.

We've heard nothing.

OK.

Have you heard anything about this?

No.

Have you heard anything about this?

So we met a Paul Devin's last meeting.

They shared?

We met a Paul Devin's PD last meeting.

Yeah.

Got on a payroll.

Say it again.

Yeah, we call Devin's last meeting.

Is it OK if I, if I go through this?

Yes, please.

And then I can, oh, it's on my back.

That's, that's, that's, no, it's the, uh,

one with the, uh, Gatorade, the electrolyte,

two, uh, the spare, uh, XDS battery.

Is it next to the radio?

It's the one with the spare XDS battery in it.

And even after being confronted,

Skeletta seemingly kept insisting he was a cop.

He allegedly told the officers to check his credentials,

to call his command.

But when one of the supervisors laid out the facts,

or the alleged facts, Edmund's PD said he was never

on their payroll.

Their database showed a felony conviction.

And he'd been rolling up or accused of rolling up

to active seams armed and in full tactical gear.

And that is when Skeletta seemingly, finally,

invoked his right to remain sound.

He was booked into jail,

uncharges a first degree criminal impersonation

and second degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

And at his court hearing in September of 2025,

he pleaded not guilty.

Judge set his bail at $50,000.

And as of the latest available records,

his case remained pending with no public update

on whether it went to trial or resolved the replay.

But what a case to say the least.

But now we go to our final case.

Maybe the strangest one of all,

because the person pretending to be someone they weren't,

wasn't wearing a badge or a uniform,

she was wearing a high school basketball jersey.

Shelby Hewitt.

And by the way, Shelby, at the time all this went down,

was a 30-something-year-old social worker.

But for months, she was living a double life so bizarre

that it left the whole school district asking,

how on earth did we miss this?

Let me set the seam.

It's the 2022-2023 school year.

A new student shows up at Jeremiah E. Burke High School

in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

And that school is now called Albert D. Holland High School,

just so you know.

And the student says her name is Daniela.

Daniela Herrera.

And she's a 16-year-old foster kid.

She's quiet.

She's got this tough back story.

Joins the girl's basketball team.

Everyone thinks she's just a new student trying to fit in.

Here's the thing.

Daniela was actually Shelby Hewitt.

She wasn't 16.

She was in her 30s.

And this wasn't a one-off thing.

And as investigators started digging,

they realized that between September 2022 and June 2023,

Shelby had used multiple fake identities

to enroll in at least three different high schools.

She was apparently so committed to the bit

that she created fake documents,

weaving this whole narrative

that she was just this kid in the Massachusetts foster care

system.

Now the details here are what really get me.

Because at Burke High, she didn't just sit

in the back of the class.

She joined the basketball team.

She picked Jersey number 32, which, you know,

you got to think about it.

That was a real age at the time.

Little on the nose, right?

You get a call for what it is.

But it gets wilder.

She eventually requested a transfer to Brighton High School.

And then in June of 2023, she tried

to enroll at English High School in Jamaica plain.

This time posing as a 13-year-old under a different name.

So within a year, she went from a 16-year-old foster

kid to a 13-year-old with a whole new back story.

Now how did she finally get caught?

It's actually a pretty small detail

that seemingly unraveled the whole thing.

Because according to reporting from NBC 10 Boston,

a man shows up at English High School claiming

to be her dad, saying he was pulling her out

because she was being bullied.

But the school administrators reportedly

thought that was odd.

She had only been enrolled for a week.

And they were literally in the middle of trying

to help with the bullying situation.

So they did what they were supposed to do.

They called the school district to verify

some of her enrollment paperwork.

And that is when they found errors.

They tried to call the social worker

that was listed on her forms, guess what?

That person didn't exist.

And here's the thing.

The students had started to notice something was off

way before the paperwork did, by the way.

Some of her classmates said her stories

just didn't always line up.

Now at first they chalked it up to, you know,

claiming to have a traumatic pass.

She told people she had been abused and trafficked,

which might explain the inconsistencies.

But then according to the Boston Globe,

some students did a little digging.

And what do they find?

They found Shelby Hewitt's actual yearbook photo

from when she went to Sharon High School back in 2007.

Imagine being a teenager and realizing

the person sitting next to you in class

was using a photo from when they were your age.

But that photo was taken 15 years earlier.

Now no word on if the man allegedly pretending

to be Hewitt's dad was ever found or charged.

But Shelby was arrested.

And rest of the warrant was issued in June of 2023.

She turned herself in.

She was released in a $5,000 bomb, strict condition.

She couldn't go near any schools or contact the people there.

Mass live spoke with a woman who attended

at Berk High School at the same time as Hewitt

and actually befriended her.

She told the outlet, it just makes me

hard to trust people.

It makes me question, is this person

or is this just like another Shelby moving forward?

I think a lot of students are going

to continue to feel betrayal.

Even though it happened three years ago,

they would never forget how that made them feel at the time.

That's the big part, that's the harm here.

And according to Her, Hewitt became friends with students

ages 13 through 16.

And get this at the same time that she was pretending

to be a high schooler, ostensibly going to classes

and playing sports, making friends with actual children.

She was also employed by the Department

of Children and Families as a social worker herself,

collecting her $54,000 a year salary while posing as a teenager.

She also reportedly created fake identities for DCF workers

to help with the enrollment process.

And it wasn't just in school that Hewitt was reportedly

pretending to be a teen.

She also apparently used her DCF resources

to enroll in Walden Behavioral Care for an eating disorder.

You talk about a clinic in dead in Massachusetts

where she once again claimed to be Danielle Herrera.

Now, Hewitt no longer worked for DCF,

but the exact circumstances surrounding her leaving,

whether she was fired or quit, never made clear.

But after several delays, Hewitt was supposed

to go to trial in Suffolk County Superior Court.

But instead, the court announced

that a plea agreement had been reached.

My understanding is that there is an agreed upon disposition

in this case for a plea of guilty.

I have had the opportunity already

to review your board of probation record.

I'm fully familiar with this case, as you know.

And I've already had the opportunity

to look at the guidelines here.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna move forward

with that process, okay?

So, Hewitt, now 34, pled guilty, February 3rd, 2026

to charge as a forgery, fraud, violating,

public employee conduct standards.

Four of the charges were dismissed.

And Hewitt's attorney told the court

that his client had long-term mental health problems

that she had started receiving treatment.

Hewitt herself addressed some of those issues

during her statement.

Thank you, Your Honor, for letting me speak.

I'm truly sorry for the harm that I know that I have caused.

And I recognize that my conduct disrupted

the Boston public schools and caused confusion, alarm,

and probably fear to students, families, and staff.

I should never have been there.

And through my actions, I violated the trust

of the school community, my family,

and everybody in my life that loved me.

And I am deeply sorry for the pain that I caused.

And I carry a lot of shame every day regarding it.

And so I am, I was not being a good person.

And I am continuing intensive mental health treatment,

medication, and counseling to try to be a better one.

And I know that that doesn't undo the harm that I know

that I caused, but I accept full responsibility.

And I hope that anyone I hurt can heal from it.

And I'm very truly sorry for my incredibly selfish decisions.

And in the end, Hewitt was ordered

to serve four years of probation for each guilty plea,

which were served concurrently, so at the same time.

And if the sentences had been consecutive,

she would have faced 20 years of supervision.

She also had to pay more than $9,000 in restitution.

Now, as part of her probation,

she had to continue getting therapy

and taking any medication she was prescribed

and stay away from all Boston public schools.

She couldn't work as a social worker

and she couldn't seek a social worker's license.

But that wasn't the end of the story.

No, there were still a lot of questions surrounding

how this could have happened, especially when you learn

that Hewitt had at one point moved in

with her longtime therapist, who allegedly sat alongside her

as she enrolled.

Yeah, that's another part of this case.

So according to the Boston Globe, Rebecca Burnett,

also sometimes called Becky, a licensed clinical social worker

and former supervisor at Walden Behavioral Care

apparently faced disciplinary action.

Burnett expressed shock when the allegations

against Hewitt came out, but many questioned

how much she actually knew about Hewitt's true background.

But prosecutors alleged that Hewitt told Burnett

and other Walden employees that she was so traumatized

from being trafficked as a child,

she couldn't remember her real age.

But the Globe reported that Hewitt had actually

been enrolled at Walden Behavioral Care

before using her real name, her true identity.

And anonymous employees and former patients claim

there was no way Burnett wouldn't have remembered her.

And why did she allegedly let Hewitt move in with her?

That's at some point.

Hewitt apparently posing as a foster child moved in

with Burnett and her partner, a man named John Smith.

So that's strange, right?

That allegation?

I mean, you could be talking about a potential ethical

violation, patient, therapists living together.

But Burnett's lawyer, Connie Tran, told the Globe

after Hewitt's arrest quote,

Hewitt utilized various fabricated personas

to deceive Walden, BPS and Rebecca into believing

she was in fact a child who was legally in DCF's custody.

Tran also claimed Rebecca did not facilitate

Shelby Hewitt's enrollment into BPS,

rather Hewitt undertook this action independently.

But school administrators pushed back insisting

just didn't track.

Reporter Patricia Wen wrote in 2024

Boston Globe article quote,

they say Burnett was present either on Zoom or in person

to complete enrollment paperwork in August of 2022

for 16 year old Dan Yella Herrera.

And then in June 2023 for 13 year old Ellie Blake,

officials say Burnett's use of a second name

in the school system, Ellie,

raises questions about how certain she was

about the truth of the first one, Dan Yella.

So according to the Globe, at least six complaints

were filed against Burnett with a state social worker

board after Hewitt's arrest.

And she no longer worked for Walden Behavioral,

though the Globe reported that people they contact

at the clinic wouldn't confirm if she'd been fired.

Her attorney for her social work licensing,

Paul Surrell, told Boston Globe that hearings on her case

were expected to begin in the summer of 2026.

That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar.

Everybody, thank you so much for joining us.

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I'll see you next time, everybody.