14-Year-Old Impersonates Cop With Uniform, Car, Fake Guns

A teen in Southern California was arrested Tuesday for an ambitious series of police officer impersonations, the Los Angeles Times reported. The 14-year-old, whose identity was not released due to his age, posed as an officer in three separate encounters with civilians before being apprehended.

Clad in a police uniform with what appeared to be a gun on his belt, the boy drove what looked like a police car up to a Victorville, California, home and claimed to be investigating a domestic disturbance. He talked to the homeowner for a while and left when the homeowner said nothing was happening.

A few seconds of this encounter, as well as a detailed look at all of the gear the teen had on him, can be seen in this video tweeted out by the Victorville Police Department.

According to the arrest report, the teen had affixed red and blue emergency lights to a Ford Explorer that otherwise had no license plates or identifying markers as a police vehicle. After the incident above, he initiated a traffic stop and collected a woman’s information before letting her go. He also pulled into another resident’s driveway for a domestic disturbance, but again, left when the person who came to the door said nothing was wrong.

Police eventually detained the teen and found all of the gear he had used in his impersonations in his home. That included ballistic vests, counterfeit money, and fake guns. The LA Times report said the Ford Explorer belonged to a great grandparent. Police are still trying to identify and find the woman from the traffic stop and the resident from the other false domestic disturbance call.

Impersonation of a police officer is a misdemeanor in California punishable by a combination of a short prison sentence and fine, but the teen’s age could theoretically lessen the sentence if he is found guilty. A 26-year-old Ohio man was just sentenced Thursday to almost six years in prison for dozens of impersonation charges.