Calif. officials combat restaurant-inspection scam-2012-10-02Calif. officials combat restaurant-inspection scam-2012-10-02

ROSEVILLE Calif. Police here are searching for a 48-year-old man known as "Rick" who is suspected of defrauding at least two Roseville restaurant operators while posing as a state inspector for the California Department of Industrial Relations' Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA.

Raymond Richard Whitall II is thought to have committed similar scams elsewhere in Southern California, targeting small, independently owned restaurants. In Roseville, police allege Whitall in February entered two restaurants, El Azteca and Denny's Café, saying he was conducting a Cal/OSHA inspection.

After a lengthy "inspection," Whitall then threatened the restaurant owners with what police described as phony violations, such as having the w...