Teen arrested for fake parking tickets scam in Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV)- Santa Cruz Police said they caught a 19-year-old man suspected of scamming people by putting fake parking tickets on their vehicles.

Police found fraudulent citations issued to various parked vehicles in the beach area on Wednesday evening. Police said Vela put a QR code on the tickets to direct people to a website for payment.

Damian Vela, of Watsonville, was approached on Thursday at around 4 p.m. by officers near the beach area. He admitted to putting fake tickets on people’s cars but denied receiving any payments, said police.

Evidence for this scam was found in the suspect’s vehicle, according to police. Vela was arrested and booked into Santa Cruz County Jail for unlawful use of a computer system and attempted fraud.

Detectives are looking for more potential victims. If you know something, call the Investigations Unit at (831) 420-5820