Man Impersonating Police Pulls Over OffDuty Cop- why we'll always have jobs

[rohan]

By DAVID OWENS | The Hartford Courant
12:00 PM EDT, October 21, 2008
Hartford police say Israel Gomez was pretending to be one of them early today when he got a harsh surprise.

Gomez, 20, was cruising down Franklin Avenue in a 1994 Honda Civic tricked out with red and blue strobe lights, a siren and a loud speaker. Driving behind a car near South Street, he turned on his flashing lights and sounded the siren. Gomez drove up to the right side of the car, and using his loud speaker, ordered the driver to pull over, police said. A second car, which police said was driven by an accomplice of Gomez, pulled up on the left side of the car Gomez had stopped.

What Gomez and his accomplice, Esteban Cardona, 20, didn't know, police said, was that they had targeted a real police officer -- off-duty Hartford police Lt. Ronald Bair. The pursued became the pursuer. Bair followed the two cars south on Franklin Avenue, called for assistance and confronted the two men near Hanmer Street.

Gomez, of 586 Franklin Ave., was charged with impersonating a police officer, reckless driving and improper use of red flashing lights. Cardona, of 20 Victoria Road, was charged with reckless driving. Both men were released from custody.

Gomez

Cardona

[Submariner]

Released from custody?  What a joke. 

[cawimmer430]

Released from custody?  What a joke. 

No death penalty? What happened to justice!?   

[MX793]

Haha, that's as bad as this one from a few years back:

September 29, 2003

By Jim Read
Staff writer

A former mall security guard posed as an Onondaga County sheriff's deputy for two years, stopping motorists and lecturing them, Syracuse police said.

He got caught Saturday when he called for backup.

"I don't know what possessed me to do what I did," Jeremy Lepianka, 22, of 117 Lakeview Ave., Syracuse, wrote in his statement to police, "but more than likely I just screwed up my future."

Lepianka got caught after he stopped a pickup truck that had run red lights, and several occupants of the truck fled. He called the 911 Center on a cell phone and identified himself as an off-duty sheriff's deputy who needed help, police reports said. Lepianka had apprehended one of the passengers of the truck, reports said.

When Syracuse police arrived at Richmond Avenue and Liberty Street about 7 p.m. Saturday, Lepianka told them he was Deputy J. Atkins and used police jargon, but "something just didn't seem quite right about him," said Lt. Joe Cecile, speaking for Syracuse police. Police found out the truth after they discovered the sheriff's department has no Deputy Atkins, and they questioned Lepianka further at his home.

Lepianka was arraigned Sunday on charges of impersonating a police officer, a felony, and criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a noxious substance, misdemeanors. He was sent to the Justice Center jail on $5,000 bail or bond.

The stop caused a commotion in the neighborhood and additional Syracuse officers were called to break up a crowd of about 30 people who had gathered, reports said. One 16-year-old was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, reports said.

In Lepianka's home, police found two prop guns, copies of police reports, other pieces of police clothing and a duty belt that contained handcuffs, pepper spray, ammunition pouches and a flashlight.

Lepianka's former girlfriend, Jennie Wilson, 20, of 88 Elizabeth St., Auburn, told detectives that Lepianka told her he was a volunteer deputy and for the past two years had been wearing his uniform and carrying a gun. The couple would go to the mall or restaurants while he was in uniform, and he would pull people over for traffic infractions and lecture the drivers, she wrote in her statement.

"I really thought he was a police officer because that's all he talked about," Wilson wrote in her statement. "Everyone thought he was a cop. He was living a lie."

Lepianka told police he always wanted to be a police officer and got the uniforms and police equipment from his previous job as a security guard at ShoppingTown Mall in DeWitt. He bought the sheriff's patch at a uniform shop and had intended to start a patch collection, police reports said.

Cecile said officers found a business card of the Syracuse Police Department's recruiter in Lepianka's wallet. But it couldn't be learned if Lepianka ever applied for a job there or with the sheriff's department.

Syracuse police charged Lepianka in December 1999, with burglary, larceny and possession of burglar's tools when he and another teen were accused of going through cars in the Syracuse police garage on Erie Boulevard East, reports said. Lepianka was accused of taking unused traffic tickets and a $1,000 police radio. The disposition of the case couldn't be learned Sunday.

Onondaga County Undersheriff Warren Darby said he doesn't recall any cases of impersonation of a deputy since he joined the department in 1995.

"It happens now and then," he said. Uniform shops typically sell only to police officers, but patches are traded like baseball cards, Darby said

[giant_mtb]

1994 CiVic Police Interceptor.


CVPI!

[rohan]

Released from custody?  What a joke. 

Probably posted bond to ghet out I doubt they'ld let guys charged with felonies out on PR bond.

[Lebowski]

What an idiot.

Was their intent to rob people that they pulled over?  Otherwise it seems odd to have another car following.


I wonder how long these morons expected to get away with it.  Flashing lights or not, a 20 y/o in a '94 Civic doesn't exactly scream "LEO" to me.

[TurboDan]

As far as the guy from the 2003 story, I wonder why he never just applied/tested to become a real police officer?  Not saying he'd pass a psych exam anyway, but seems weird to pretend to be a cop when you could at least attempt to be a real one.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I too have a police uniform and a pretty big patch collection.

I made the patches velcro backed so i can switch out state patches on the arm as well as change rank from time to time(though most of the time i just leave the rank of admiral on there).

[TurboDan]

Seriously, FBC.  Sometimes I feel like being a Captain, sometimes a Sergeant. Really depends on the day.  A lot of times, I just don't feel like dealing with all the paperwork.