Sebastopol church targeted by suspected swindler

A Santa Rosa man was arrested this week after members of a local church reported he had falsely represented himself as a Sebastopol police officer while soliciting a charitable donation.

Jeffrey Neil Heiden, 42, visited the church, which police did not identify, on Feb. 6. He told members that he was collecting money on behalf of an organization called "Sebastopol Police Campaign," which would then fund a group called "Pros and Cons for Kids," Sebastopol police said in a news release.

Heiden is not a police officer, the department said, and his connections with any charitable organization could not be determined.

He was arrested on suspicion of burglary, on the basis that he entered the church with the intent to receive money by misrepresentation, the department said.