A man who claimed to be a Louisiana State Police trooper was arrested by officers that he claimed were colleagues. He has since been charged with impersonating an officer, which could require a vigorous criminal defense plan to minimize the impact on his future. He is also charged with public intimidation.
A police officer was apparently suspicious of two vehicles without trailers or boats that were parked in the lot of an area boat club. The vehicles were parked alongside one another, and the attending officer approached the one that had occupants — a man and woman. The other vehicle was apparently empty.
Upon approach, the 37-year-old man quickly showed the officer a badge for a Louisiana State Police trooper and claimed that he himself was one. The officer contacted the LSP to confirm, after which an actual trooper apparently reported to the scene. The trooper is said to have determined that the man in the vehicle was not an LSP trooper and never had been, although he had once worked in the state’s Department of Safety Radio Maintenance Division as a civilian. However, he had not been employed there for some time.
The badge was confiscated during the man’s arrest for public intimidation and falsely impersonating a police officer. Officials are still not sure how he obtained the badge and, as they continue their investigation, are trying to figure out how long the alleged impersonation had been going on. Louisiana law enforcement tends to take police officer impersonations quite seriously. Defendants facing such charges are usually well advised to take swift and vigorous action when it comes to their criminal defense planning in order to achieve the best possible outcome.
Source: wgno.com, “Man arrested for impersonating State Trooper“, Nov. 29, 2017