Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : 2 Arrested for Allegedly Trying to Forge Tickets

Two men were arrested at a Santa Ana copy store where they had tried to duplicate tickets to a Halloween party at Knott’s Berry Farm, police said Thursday.

John McGraw, 35, of Buena Park and Brad Powers, 21, of Cerritos were arrested Wednesday afternoon when they went to The Copy Store in the 1600 block of North Main Street to pick up 500 copies of tickets for the Halloween Haunt Oct. 31 at the amusement park.

The owner of the copy store became suspicious when the men placed the order Saturday and notified officials at Knott’s, Santa Ana Police Officer Cliff Seward said.

Seward said the men offered to pay $50 for the copies, plus an additional $20 if the work was completed quickly.

Tickets for the annual Halloween party, which includes a haunted house and an appearance by “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark,” sell for $18.95, Seward said. He said the suspects refused to talk to police after their arrest.

“We can only assume they were planning on selling them and making a little money,” he said.

Police said McGraw is also believed to be involved in altering birth dates on driver licenses so that people under the age of 21 appeared to be older. Police said McGraw had six altered licenses in his possession when he was arrested.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of forgery and criminal conspiracy and were taken to Orange County Jail. McGraw, who was also arrested on suspicion of forging driver licenses, was held in lieu of $10,000 bail, a jail official said. Powers was released on bail Thursday, the official said.