Man arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer

A 36-year-old Key Largo man was arrested Monday after falsely claiming to be a New York state trooper in an effort to get his ex-girlfriend arrested.

Claude Francis Tristram was charged with false impersonation of a police officer.

The case began in March when Tristram’s ex-girlfriend reported Tristram was violating a court-ordered injunction against him to not contact her in any way. An investigation showed Tristram was calling, texting and mailing the victim USB devices containing messages. He was also using a phone application that changes the user’s display number, thus concealing who is actually calling.

Later that month, the Sheriff’s Office 911 Communications Center received a phone call on its non-emergency line from someone claiming to be an off-duty New York state trooper who reported a possible intoxicated driver driving recklessly. Responding Deputies found the alleged suspect vehicle and were simultaneously approached by Tristram, who pulled over to help identify the vehicle for Deputies. He also told them the vehicle was heading to a specific residence, which turned out to be his ex-girlfriend’s residence.

Deputies stopped the vehicle. The driver, Tristram’s ex-girlfriend, was not impaired. The ex-girlfriend stated she believed Tristram was behind the traffic stop and he was harassing her.

Detectives found the phone number used to call the 911 Communications Center non-emergency line to report the fake DUI was assigned to a phone application that blocks the user’s display number, allowing them to make anonymous calls. Detectives obtained records from the company that owns the application and it showed the phone call made to 911 came from Tristram’s account with the company. Detectives contacted New York State Police and they do not have a trooper with the name Tristram falsely provided.

Warrants were obtained for Tristram’s arrest and he was booked into jail on Monday.

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