Fake Cop Faced with Real Jail Time
Sometimes it is the little things in life that cause the most frustration. This is particularly true when it comes to automobile travel. For example, it is extremely frustrating to sit at a red light for what seems like an eternity when your car is the only car at a four-way intersection. Likewise, sitting in traffic for hours is maddening, and when a police car, lights flashing, speeds happily by your inert vehicle on its way to its destination, it is hard not to feel a twinge of envy.
A twenty-one year-old security guard from Shreveport, Louisiana, knows this feeling all too well. Growing tired of the inconveniences of civilian life, the security guard decided to take matters into his own hands. He acquired a flashing red light to place on the dash of his vehicle, armed himself with a handgun, and set out to lay waste to all would-be impediments to his absolute vehicular freedom. Unfortunately for him, one of those impediments came in the form of Shreveport’s mayor.
When the mayor saw the flashing lights coming from the car behind him, he pulled over, expecting to see a police officer pull behind him or pass. Instead, he saw the security guard go by, became suspicious, and contacted the police. Police caught up with the security guard, and determined that he was impersonating a police officer for the purpose of maneuvering unimpeded through traffic. They then seized his flashing light and handgun, arrested him, and charged him with criminal impersonation.
Police officers occupy a unique position of public trust and authority, so impersonating a law enforcement official is punished more harshly under the Tennessee statute than impersonating other types of officials or persons. People who impersonate police officers in Tennessee can be charged with Criminal Impersonation under T.C.A. section 39-16-301(b).
The statute mandates that impersonating a police officer for the purpose of causing another to believe one is a police officer or for the purpose of engaging in an activity established by law as a law enforcement activity is a Class A Misdemeanor. In Tennessee, a Class A Misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days in jail and a fine of up to twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500). Roadway annoyances can be frustrating, but they are fairly insignificant compared to spending almost a year in jail. Clearly, people like the man in this case would be better off just sitting in traffic.
Sources: http://news.aol.com/article/fake-cop-arrested-after-stopping-mayor/671080; T.C.A. section 39-16-301
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