TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

A former Kern County Sheriff's deputy allegedly stole thousands of dollars from Lost Hills residents he pulled over in the course of his job, the sheriff's department reported.

Jason Hammack, 23, stole amounts of $400 to $800 each from five different victims, Sheriff Donny Youngblood said. Youngblood said similar incidents have happened over the years, and he has implemented measures to help catch anyone who tries something like this in the future. He declined to go into specifics about what those measures entailed.

"(Sheriff's Department) employees should know that if you're going to be involved in criminal activity, we're going to get you," Youngblood said.

In Hammack's case, the former deputy would take a victim's wallet after stopping them, Youngblood said. He gave each victim a different reason about why he stopped them.

Hammack would return the victim's wallet a short while later and then order the person to leave the area, Youngblood said. The victim would then discover money missing from the wallet.

The incidents happened between Nov. 3 and Dec. 11, a Sheriff's Department news release said.

Hammack was busted in an undercover investigation after a couple of victims contacted the Sheriff's Department, the news release said. Each victim identified Hammack from a lineup.

Youngblood said Hammack was employed with the Sheriff's Department for three and a half years. His employment ended Thursday, but Youngblood couldn't say whether Hammack was fired or resigned.

Hammack, who had been assigned to the Buttonwillow substation, was booked on suspicion of five counts of grand theft and five counts of false detention under color of authority, the news release said. Bail was set at $150,000, and his arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

Hammack declined an interview from jail.

These types of incidents are rare, Youngblood said, and it's the department's responsibility to weed out those who are employed by the department and who break the law. Such people make up a tiny percentage of the total number of employees of the Sheriff's Department, and their actions hurt the department's image, he said.

"The people who don't like law enforcement will label all law enforcement because of one incident," Youngblood said.

Others within the department worked quickly to nab Hammack. These types of incidents bother everyone in law enforcement who abides by the law, Youngblood said.

"The honest cops, they want the bad cop more than anybody else," he said.