Ex-Cop in Mission Viejo Accused of Fake Inspection, Naked-Massage Request at Parlor

A former Illinois cop was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of impersonating a police officer so as to perform a bogus inspection and ask for money and a massage at Lake Forest's Golden Spa parlor, 24342 Muirlands Blvd., authorities said.

Mission Viejo resident Edward Justin La Porte, 47, is accused of entering the parlor around noon Monday and telling the manager there that he was a police officer investigating a complaint filed against the business, said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

La Porte opened up his jacket to show the manager a dark-colored pistol in his shoulder holster and a police badge in his waistband, Amormino said. The manager, believing La Porte to be a cop, allowed him to walk around the business, writing on a notepad on a metal clipboard, Amormino said.

In the parlor's massage room, La Porte allegedly told the manager that he needed a massage because the gun holster hurt his back and shoulder.

"When the manager told him she didn't do massages, he became very insistent," Amormino said.

The manager summoned a masseuse who worked at the business. Amormino said that when the masseuse walked into the massage room, La Porte was on the table, naked.

"After the massage on his shoulder and back was done, he rolled over and requested her to massage the front of him," Amormino said. "Obviously, she thought it was some type of sexual misconduct like masturbation or something. She said they don't do this kind of stuff and he should leave the building."

La Porte then got dressed and told the manager that she owed him $200 for the inspection, Amormino said. When the manager said she didn't have the money on hand, La Porte said he would come back later to get it, Amormino said.

The manager, suspicious of La Porte, then called the city of Lake Forest's building and licensing department to find out whether the business had actually been the subject of an inspection, Amormino said. The city sent an employee out to the parlor, and as the employee was pulling up in his car, La Porte was leaving, Amormino said.

The city official asked La Porte what he had been doing, but La Porte became belligerent and said, "I don't have to tell you anything; I'm from the state,' " Amormino said.

The masseuse followed La Porte's Toyota Camry to a Mission Viejo neighborhood and recorded a partial license plate number and reported it to police, Amormino said. Deputies identified La Porte and executed a search warrant at his home, where they confiscated a gun holster, a badge, some handcuffs and a metal clipboard with notepad, Amormino said.

Police arrested La Porte Tuesday and booked him on suspicion of  impersonating a police officer and burglary, Amormino said. He posted bail and was released at 5:44 a.m. Thursday.

La Porte was on the Arlington Heights, Ill., police force from 1997 to 2001 and now works part time for a security agency in Yorba Linda, Amormino told City News Service.

Investigators believe La Porte may have impersonated an officer to take advantage of other businesses, Amormino said. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Sheriff's Department.

"We just fear it's not the first time he's done it," Amormino said. "Who knows? He could have victimized any type of business."