THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 25, 1994 TAG: 9408250596
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Just three weeks out of jail, convicted police impersonator Bryon Fritz had no trouble finding a job.
The law enforcement look-alike who has been the subject of three criminal prosecutions in the past year was hired to do what he likes to do best: write tickets.
Fritz, of Virginia Beach, was hired by J.L. Associates to enforce metered parking at the Oceanfront under a contract with the city. He did not work directly for the city or the Police Department.
``I wish it had never happened, but I'm not embarrassed about it,'' said Parking Administrator Henry Ruiz. ``I've had worse things to be embarrassed about. I'd say, `regrettable' is more the word.''
Fritz was fired Saturday, after a sheriff's deputy spotted him writing tickets and told city officials. Ticket writing was apparently his first job after he was released from jail July 7.
Ruiz said Fritz had worked less than a week. He probably wrote about 100 tickets, signing his name or initials, Ruiz said.
Ruiz said he thinks the tickets are valid.
``Actually, that's the first time that question has come up,'' Ruiz said. ``I can't think of a reason not to validate them.''
Fritz, 26, is no stranger to a ticket book.
Since 1986, he has posed as an agent or officer of various law enforcement agencies. In his uniform de jour, he motored around in an old police sedan he bought at auction and outfitted with new and outdated police equipment.
Fritz was once a security guard, but has no bona fide law enforcement experience. He flunked out of the police academy.
Sometimes, Fritz pretended to be a detective. Other times a state trooper. He also had the duds and bogus badges to pose as an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or the FBI. He even had a firefighter's ID.
Patrolling in his cruiser, Fritz often stopped attractive women or wrote bogus tickets to drivers who annoyed him, investigators said in December.
Fritz even convinced a Chesapeake detective and a magistrate that he was an authentic law enforcement officer.
But he couldn't convince State Trooper Timothy Rice.
Rice spotted Fritz speeding in his old patrol car on The Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway on Nov. 14, 1993. Rice then watched Fritz run through a toll booth without paying.
More than 300 hours of investigation later, Rice helped convict Fritz in April of impersonating a police officer.
Fritz was also convicted on the same charge in Portsmouth, but has appealed to the Portsmouth Circuit Court. That hearing is scheduled for next month.
Similar charges are pending in Chesapeake.
Ruiz, the parking administrator, said an inventory of ticket books, radios and other items was completed after Fritz was fired Saturday. Nothing was missing, he said.
As Fritz was turning in his ticket book Saturday, his record was being checked for outstanding warrants.
He had one.
Fritz was arrested and taken to the city jail - again - because Arlington authorities issued a warrant July 14 when Fritz didn't show up for court there.
The charge in Arlington: impersonating a police officer. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Bryon Fritz has been repeatedly charged with impersonating a police
officer.
by CNB