4 Arrested in Sales of Phony RTD Passes

Four people suspected of making and selling phony RTD bus passes were arrested by transit police in an undercover operation, authorities said Friday. One man, Emilliano Encarnacion, 18, was arrested in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday after undercover officers saw him selling the counterfeit passes at 6th Street and Broadway, said Greg Davy, a spokesman for the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

A short time later, Oscar Iracheta, 40; Eduardo A. Nunez, 27, and Abdellkadar Noutfia, 37, also were taken into custody.

Davy said the operation apparently was making about a $5 profit off each forged pass that was sold. While the exact loss to revenues was not known, Davy said it was “not significant.” Encarnacion was booked on suspicion of possession of forged documents. The other three suspects were booked on suspicion of forgery.