Lincoln woman arrested for impersonating mother of high school imposter
22-year-old accused of aiding a 26-year-old posing as a high school student
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - A 22-year-old Lincoln woman is in jail, accused of pretending to be the mother of Zachary Scheich, who allegedly posed as a high school student for 54 days and is facing felony charges.
Lincoln Police said officers cited Angela Navarro Friday morning for Criminal Impersonation, which is punishable by up to 4 years in prison. A judge set Navarro’s bond at 10 percent of $5,000, which is half of the recommended bond. Her attorney argued that she’s been cooperative with law enforcement and was a victim of Scheich.
According to an arrest affidavit, in October 2022, 26-year-old Zachary Scheich enrolled at Lincoln Public Schools claiming to be a 17-year-old named ‘Zak Hess’. Scheich listed his mother as Danielle Hess.
An LPD arrest affidavit claims Scheich created false documents, including a fake birth certificate, immunization records and school transcripts, to pass himself off as a student at Northwest High School and Southeast.
LPS eventually discovered Scheich’s real identity and on June 1 called ‘Danielle’ who vouched for him and said she was Zak’s mother. Police later learned the woman was actually Angela Navarro. The arrest affidavit said she had attended a meeting with a school counselor to register Scheich for classes.
Navarro is due in court next on Oct. 25 and was ordered to have no contact with Scheich.
Scheich is facing 15 total felony charges with 13 victims listed. That list includes one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child, five counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of attempted first-degree sexual assault, one count of sex trafficking of a minor, six counts of child enticement with electronic communication and one count of generation of child pornography.
Following Friday morning’s news, Lincoln Public Schools released the following statement.
“We are thankful for Lincoln Police and their continued efforts in fully investigating this case and bringing the individuals involved to justice. We know more information about this case will continue to be released through the course of the investigation as it is uncovered.
At Lincoln Public Schools, our primary concerns are for the victims’ who bravely came forward and their well being. We continue to work closely with Lincoln Police and the county attorney as they investigate and uncover more information.
In light of the incident, Lincoln Public Schools conducted meetings and held trainings with the appropriate staff over the summer and put additional measures into place that will confirm the accuracy of information provided by families for students enrolling from outside of Lincoln Public Schools. We are not going to go into the specifics for security purposes.”
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