Police ask for help to find fugitive they say posed as officer for scam

Timothy Liptrap went by 'Officer Anderson' in phone scam, police say

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public's help to find a Jacksonville man accused of impersonating a police officer to scam a Gators Dockside employee.

Timothy Liptrap, 48, called the restaurant and bar on Baymeadows Road and gave his name as “Officer Anderson,” police said.

According to police, Liptrap told the employee that her boss was in jail and being held on a $650 bond.

Liptrap claimed that he had spoken to the “brother-in-law” of the boss who had paid half of the money and needed the employee to come up with the rest of the money. Liptrap told the employee the "brother in-law” was a police officer who lived in St. Johns County, police said.

The victim met the “brother-in-law” and gave him $340 at the Kangaroo Gas station at 8840 Philips Highway, police said.

After the meeting, the victim told "Officer Anderson" that the money had been paid, and he said that he would work on getting her boss released.

The victim alerted investigators after she called her boss and he told her he had been asleep and his brother-in-law didn’t live near Jacksonville.

News4Jax went by the Ortega Hills home listed by police as Liptrap's address and a neighbor said it's his parents' home and Liptrap hadn't been seen there in months.

According to police, Liptrap has warrants for three counts of grand theft and organized fraud. He is described as being 5-feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 190 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Police said Liptrap also goes by a number of aliases like Colin Alexander, Jason Coulbourn and Raymond Steiner. Liptrap has a gray four-door Dodge Charger with Florida tag HJD U39, JSO said. 

Police asked that anyone who has come in contact with Liptrap or has been involved in a similar situation to call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500, or email at JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org.

News4Jax crime and safety expert Gil Smith said that if anyone ever calls asking you to bond someone out of jail, it will be the person who has been arrested or a close family member of theirs.

“There's not a time where a police officer or anyone from the court system would call, because bond is set up so that a person can be insured to come back for their court date,” Smith said. “They don't care whether the person bonds out or not. Even a bail bondsman won't call you.”

Smith said if you do fall for something like this, contact police immediately. They might be able to trace the call and get your money back. 

"If you're not sure if it's a scam, then contact the person who was arrested," Smith said. "You can contact the jail and find out if the person is there. They can call you back, but unless you're contacted about the person who was arrested or a close family member, then you would never pay a bond."