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Spouse of sheriff employee arrested on impersonating law officer charges
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Merle Neufield reportedly posted videos on social media while accessing secured areas of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office – claiming that he was a law enforcement official.

The only problem? Nobody at the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s knew who he was.

According to the agency, Neufield was arrested this week for impersonating a law enforcement officer after it came to their attention that the videos were circulating on social media.

Authorities claim that Neufield – who is married to an employee of the sheriff’s office – used his wife’s keycard to access the secure areas and may have had ulterior motives that were thwarted once he was taken into custody.

He was arrested when trying to drive into the secure parking lot behind the public safety complex and was charged with impersonating a police officer and trespassing/loitering with the intent of committing a crime.

“We at the Sheriff’s Office take the security of our facilities very seriously and are reviewing our security policies and procedures to prevent breaches like this from occurring in the future,” the agency said in a statement announcing the arrest. “Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, we cannot share any other information at this time.”

While the agency said in the release that Neufield has no actual law enforcement experience, a search of records at the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services through the California Department of Consumer Affairs shows that a Stockton resident with the same name was issued a firearms permit in 2015 that expired four years later.

The BSIS handles the issuance of certification for both armed and unarmed security guards that are registered with the State of California. The same man was issued a security guard clearance in 1998 and that certificate remains valid through the end of January of 2023.

The employee married to Neufield has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or cal