ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY CHARGED WITH FILING 18 FALSE POLICE REPORTS IN DNA PROPERTY CRIMES PROJECT

SANTA ANA - An Orange County Sheriff's deputy was charged this morning with filing false police reports with the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD). Jason Christopher Brant, 33, Chino, is charged with 18 misdemeanor counts of filing a false report as a peace officer. He faces a maximum sentence of 18 years in jail if convicted. Brant is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, May 29, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.  

In 2005 the Orange County District Attorney's Office and OCSD received a grant from the National Institute of Justice. The grant funded a South Orange County project to determine the effectiveness in using DNA to solve property crimes.

Brant, a sworn deputy, is a 10-year veteran with the OCSD and was selected by the Department to work on this project. He was assigned to follow up on 39 of the 500 property crimes cases that were selected for DNA testing. Brant's job included contacting the victims of 39 cases that occurred between 2005 and 2007, conducting 39 follow-up investigations, collecting contact information from the victims in the event that a DNA match led to an identification of a defendant in their case, and determining the victim's willingness to cooperate in the case.

On January 14, 2008, Brant submitted 39 reports to OCSD. Of those 39 cases, Brant is accused of filing 18 false police reports stating that he had contacted each victim by telephone and they had declined to cooperate in the investigation. 

Deputy District Attorney Tammy Spurgeon of the DNA Unit is prosecuting this case.