A 21-year-old Granite Bay man was taken into custody at Yuba College in Marysville Thursday afternoon after deputies say he identified himself as a sworn peace officer while wearing a badge that belonged to a family member and carrying an imitation Glock-style pellet gun. Carson Boyd was booked into Yuba County Jail on multiple charges, including impersonating a peace officer, openly displaying an imitation firearm in a public place, and bringing a prohibited projectile device onto a college campus.
According to the Yuba County Sheriff's Office, personnel responded to the campus around 2:16 p.m. on Thursday following reports of a suspect posing as a police officer on campus grounds. Deputies detained Boyd for allegedly impersonating a peace officer on the college campus, and he later admitted he was not actually a peace officer, per the sheriff's office. He was transported to Yuba County Jail following his arrest.
Local station ABC10 independently confirmed the dispatch time and the scenario described by deputies, reporting that Yuba County Sheriff's personnel were sent to the Marysville campus after the call came in Thursday afternoon. Investigators say Boyd possessed the imitation Glock-style pellet gun and wore a badge belonging to a relative, though the sheriff's office has not identified which family member owned the badge or how Boyd obtained it.
Why the Sheriff's Office, Not Campus Police, Responded
The response fell to county deputies rather than a dedicated campus force because the Yuba Community College District Board of Trustees voted unanimously in March 2024 to disband its sworn campus police department, shifting instead to an unarmed security model, according to Police1. That structural change left the Yuba County Sheriff's Office responsible for handling active criminal incidents on campus, which is why deputies rather than campus officers made the arrest. Yuba College's main campus sits on 160 acres and includes 23 buildings at 2088 North Beale Road, where the school has operated since September 1962, per Yuba College. The broader Yuba Community College District spans roughly 4,192 square miles across eight counties in north-central California, serving about 13,000 students across two colleges and three educational centers, according to YCCD.
What Boyd Is Facing Under State Law
Boyd was booked on charges tied to three distinct sections of California law, each carrying its own criminal exposure. Fraudulently impersonating a peace officer, or wearing an authorized badge or uniform with intent to impersonate one, is a misdemeanor under California Penal Code Section 538d punishable by up to a year in county jail and fines up to $2,000, per the Shouse Law Group. Openly displaying or exposing an imitation firearm in a public place is separately barred under California Penal Code Section 20170, a law designed to prevent public panic and dangerous misunderstandings with law enforcement, the firm notes.
Bringing an air-powered projectile device such as a pellet gun onto a public community college campus is prohibited under California Penal Code Section 626.10, which the Shouse Law Group describes as a wobbler offense that prosecutors can pursue as either a misdemeanor or a felony. The case will be forwarded to the Yuba County District Attorney's Office, which will review and prosecute it, according to the sheriff's office.
Part of a Wider Pattern Across California
Boyd's arrest adds to a string of recent cases across the state involving people allegedly projecting false police authority. In a fake traffic stop in Lake Elsinore in March, Riverside County Sheriff's deputies arrested two men who allegedly used a Ford Interceptor fitted with emergency lights along with fake badges and patches. In February, El Dorado County authorities investigated a case in which a motorist was pulled over on Highway 49 by a suspect posing as an officer in an unmarked black-and-white SUV, prompting public warnings from that county's sheriff's office. And in December 2025, Antioch Police arrested a driver accused of using red and blue emergency lights on a pickup truck to pull motorists over on public streets.
Several key questions about Thursday's incident remain unanswered. It is not known what motivated Boyd to allegedly bring a badge and imitation firearm onto the Yuba College campus, whether he is a registered student there, or whether he interacted with or made demands of any students before deputies arrived. The sheriff's office has also not disclosed the identity of the family member whose badge Boyd allegedly wore.
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