Uncle Sam's Restaurants Owner Arrested

By Dennis Lambert
Published: Thursday, January 23, 2014 - 2:37pm
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(KJZZ file photo)
Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested the owner of Uncle Sam’s restaurants on identity theft and forgery charges. Sheriff Joe Arpaio said 40-year-old Bret Frimmel was taken into custody after a tip that he helped several undocumented immigrants obtain false identification to gain employment.

“This is really the first time that we implicated the owner of all these businesses that we have investigated on a criminal charge. Now we did have civil charges against owners in the past," said Arpaio.

Arpaio said the business owner allegedly told a witness in the case he liked to hire undocumented immigrants, because they worked the hardest and he could pay them less. Deputies also arrested the restaurant manager, Lisa Norton, on similar charges.