Two adults and two juveniles were arrested in Glendale on suspicion of soliciting money under false pretenses after three of the suspects gave officers conflicting stories about the death of their father, authorities said Tuesday.
One of the adults was allegedly armed with a gun.
Officers spotted two people Friday in the area of Central Avenue and Broadway holding a sign that indicated they were collecting money for funeral costs “In Loving Memory of Bernard Jaymes,” according to a statement from the Glendale Police Department.
They were approaching vehicles while holding large water jugs of cash and soliciting drivers for donations, police said.
Officers also saw three other people at different parts of the same intersection holding signs and collecting donations, all of whom quickly left the intersection once officers began talking with two of the individuals, the police statement said.
While talking with 18-year-old Kobe Lott of San Bernardino and a juvenile, the pair gave officers conflicting information about their allegedly deceased father, including giving the wrong age of their father, then switching stories between them having the same mother, but different fathers to having the same father but different mothers and more, police said.
Additional officers called to the location spotted two of the three individuals who had earlier left area, one of whom told officers their father, Jaymes, had passed away from a seizure while the other one said he passed from natural causes. Officers also located two vehicles associated with the group and found a 20-year-old Adelanto man, identified as Samajaion Shaw, who said he was there to pick up the members of the group, police said.
Officers searched the vehicle and allegedly found a loaded gun and a water jug filled with cash.
The two juveniles and Lott were arrested for soliciting money under false pretenses and released. Shaw was arrested and booked for carrying a loaded gun in public and soliciting money under false pretenses, police said, adding just under $300 was recovered.