Police: Phony Officers Had Car Siren, Fake FBI Badge
POSTED: Saturday, March 18, 2006
UPDATED: 7:08 am EST March 20,
2006
Two Daytona Beach, Fla., men were arrested this weekend after police found them speeding down a road with their vehicle's siren blaring and wearing phony officer uniforms with a fake FBI badge and pellet guns, according to a police report.
Daytona Beach police said officers pulled over Milton Vazquez-Torres and Richard Watts, 23, at about 2 a.m. Saturday because their 1995 Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle was traveling near 90 mph and had flashing lights and sirens blaring.
The driver, who was wearing military-style pants and a black t-shirt emblazoned with the words "U.S. Government Emergency Operations," reportedly told deputies he was rushing to the hospital to seek medical treatment for his injured passenger.
The police report said the passenger, who wasn't injured, was wearing a black t-shirt adorned with a police badge and the words "Police Federal Agent." He also was wearing a police-type duty belt outfitted with handcuffs, a tactical baton, flashlight and a police-style radio, according to the report.
The passenger told the deputy that he was an Air Force special agent and even produced credentials in a bi-fold wallet, the report said.
The deputy, however, immediately suspected the credentials and stories were bogus and took the men into custody.
Deputies seized two air-powered pellet guns that closely resemble a Glock handgun that the police use. Deputies also confiscated ammunition, an FBI badge and a black ski mask along with the SUV, the police report said.
Torres was charged with falsely personating an officer, resisting an officer without violence and reckless driving. Watts was charged with falsely personating an officer, possession of a police badge and resisting an officer without violence.
Both men remain in the Volusia County Jail.
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