When a man approached a gas station clerk working the cash register and identified himself as an undercover police officer, his claim was not initially believed. However, when he removed his jacket to reveal a bulletproof vest and provided the clerk an Aurora Police Department business card, the clerk was convinced. That is when this fake police officer made his move, and told the clerk the $20 bill he saw in the cash register looked like a counterfeit. The clerk gave him the bill to the ‘officer’ for further examination. The police impersonator took the bill, claiming he needed it for evidence, and left the gas station. Though this man has not yet been found, when he is, he will be facing charges for Impersonating a Peace Officer and Theft.
What is Impersonating a Police Officer and Theft in Fort Collins?
C.R.S. 18-8-112 – Impersonating a Peace Officer is defined by Colorado law as:
C.R.S. 18-4-401 – Theft – is defined as:
(a) Intends to deprive the other person permanently of the use or benefit of the thing of value;
(b) Knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the thing of value in such manner as to deprive the other person permanently of its use or benefit;
(c) Uses, conceals, or abandons the thing of value intending that such use, concealment, or abandonment will deprive the other person permanently of its use or benefit;
(d) Demands any consideration to which he or she is not legally entitled as a condition of restoring the thing of value to the other person; or
(e) Knowingly retains the thing of value more than seventy-two hours after the agreed-upon time of return in any lease or hire agreement.
It is a two part process to meet this statute’s definition and be charged with Impersonation of a Police Officer.
Because the man from the story above presented an Aurora Police Department card as his own, wore a bullet proof vest (something a police officer would wear), and told the clerk he was a police officer, he meets the part of the statute “falsely pretends to be a peace officer.” When he acted as a police officer by claiming to know the bill was counterfeit and taking it for evidence, he was performing an act that would fall under a real police officer’s job description in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park. A person dressed as a Fort Collins Police Officer for a party would not be charged, unless he committed an act which only a police officer is authorized to do, such as pulling over a car, asking someone for their ID, or making an arrest. It is a two part process to meet this statute’s definition and be charged with Impersonation of a Police Officer.
Because of the trust relationship between the public and police officers, this crime is punished harshly. Impersonating a Police Officer is charged as a class 6 felony, which is punishable with up to 18 months in prison, served in the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC). The courts will also impose up to $100,000 in fines if someone is convicted of or pleads guilty to Pretending to be a Police Officer in Larimer, Boulder, or Grand County.