Be on alert for threatening phone calls from anyone claiming to be a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy.

I received a call the morning of May 4th from a man who claimed to be LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Kado (he spelled it for me) with a badge ID 25021. He told me that he was calling because I had not responded to a grand jury summons from Van Nuys Superior Court. I had not received any summons so he confirmed my name and address. He told me that I could file necessary paperwork to avoid an arrest warrant if I appeared by appointment at the Courthouse that afternoon.

I made the appointment for 2:30 and he then asked me to contact him 45 minutes before the appointment and he would “issue my instructions” as to where to go. He gave me a choice of two telephone numbers to call, 818 797 1129 or 650 437 5561. This all made me suspicious so I called the LA Sheriff’s department and was told the Department would never call me regarding this, only contact me by mail. The woman I spoke to at the desk said they had received a number of calls about this ruse.

The “deputy” called me 45 minutes before our appointment and when I told him I was not coming to see him he began threatening me with an arrest warrant and I told him to go ahead and do whatever he wanted and hung up.

The caller had my home address, name and cell phone number. I can only speculate what he planned or wanted by luring me to Van Nuys that afternoon. I contacted LAPD Hollywood Division SLO John Negrete, who called the phone numbers and informed me they were "google numbers," meaning they were attached to a burner phone that is untraceable. He suggested blocking the numbers.

If someone calls you claiming to be from the Sheriff's Department, I would recommend immediately calling the LA County Sheriff's Department HQ to confirm the caller's identity and reason for the call.

As I was told, If the courts want to contact us, it will be through US postal service, not a phone call. Be aware.