San Jose Man Impersonating Federal Officer Indicted: DOJ

SAN JOSE, CA — A federal grand jury indicted a San Jose man on charges of impersonating a federal officer and possession of a counterfeit seal of an agency of the United States, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported Thursday.

The indictment filed that morning describes an incident on Christmas Eve of 2018 during which Alexander Taylor, 49, pulled over a driver and falsely stated he was a federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Taylor allegedly showed the driver a fake DEA badge and stated he intended to issue the driver a traffic citation. Additional documents filed in the case contain allegations that suggest Taylor may be the person behind other bogus traffic stops.

For example, an affidavit filed in the case states that in November 2018 a person fitting Taylor’s description was driving a dark-colored Volkswagen Jetta with red and blue lights. The person in the Jetta pulled over a tow truck on State Route 17 in Los Gatos on its way to assist the California Highway Patrol to remove a car from the scene of an accident. On that occasion, the person fitting Taylor’s description demanded to see the driver’s license and then asked the driver: “Do you want to die today?”

Similarly, someone in a dark-colored Jetta flashed red and blue lights to pull over a driver on State Route 85 near Interstate 280 last February. Soon after the car pulled over, the Jetta veered back into traffic without speaking to the driver. A witness stated that the driver of the Jetta appeared to be laughing.

The indictment filed today charges Taylor with one count of false impersonation of a federal officer and one count of possession of a counterfeit seal of an agency of the United States.

Taylor was arrested on March 2 and remains in federal custody. Taylor is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 12 at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi.

If convicted of the impersonation charge, Taylor faces a maximum statutory sentence of three years in prison and a fine in the amount of $250,000. The court also may order an additional term of supervised release, fines or other assessments and restitution.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Backhus is prosecuting the case with assistance from Elise Etter. This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA.