Arizona police arrest fake doctor using pseudonym 'Dr. Anthony Pena'

PHOENIX, AZ (KTRK) -- Arizona police arrested a man last week for impersonating a doctor and possibly handing out prescription pills to unsuspecting people.

Police became suspicious that Joshua Abeyta wasn't a real doctor after he asked a Highway Patrol officer for directions to a hospital in Coolidge. The problem: There is no hospital in Coolidge.

The trooper immediately became suspicious of Abeyta who was dressed in hospital scrubs, wore a stethoscope around his neck and had the name of Dr. Anthony Pena embroidered on his clothes. The trooper says Abeyta was driving a beat-up 2000 Ford Expedition that was registered to his girlfriend in Tucson.

The trooper searched the vehicle and found various pills in small plastic bags and a narcotic prescription for somebody else inside the man's vehicle. Police also contacted Abeyta's girlfriend who told them she believed he was a physician and said he gave their friends pain medication when they were ill.

Abeyta was promptly arrested on charges of criminal impersonation and providing false information to an officer. He's also suspected of breaking into a secure area at the VA hospital in Tucson by impersonating an orthopedic surgeon. Hospital security has been trying to locate him since.

Detectives say Abeyta admitted he was formerly employed at a copper mine. Police are now trying to get in touch with anyone who may have had contact with the fake "Dr. Anthony Pena."