Armed with siren and fake guns, teen caught impersonating officer, California cops say

An 18-year-old Ohio man was arrested and accused of impersonating a police officer and misusing police equipment, police in California said.

Police apprehended Rudy Reed, of Toledo, on Dec. 15 when they conducted a traffic stop on a white Ford Crown Victoria, according to a news release from the Victorville Police Department. They found that the car was an unmarked sheriff’s patrol car and had features of law enforcement vehicles, including sirens, emergency lights, antennas and a dash-cam.

After searching the car, police also found ballistic armor, pepper spray, Los Angeles Police Department patches, an imitation gun and other police gear. Reed was wearing a “Toledo Police” sweatshirt at the time, the release said.

Police then searched Reed’s home and found LAPD uniforms, an LAPD badge and patches, a California Highway Patrol hat, police duty belts with radios, imitation tasers, more imitation firearms, handcuffs and gun holsters, police said.

Reed was seen responding to traffic accidents and positioning his car in the road “in a manner law enforcement does to block traffic during collision investigations,” police said.

Reed was arrested, booked into the High Desert Detention Center and charged with falsely impersonating a police officer. However, he was released and is no longer in custody as of Dec. 16, according to jail records. He is not currently scheduled to appear in court for the charge he faces.

This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Armed with siren and fake guns, teen caught impersonating officer, California cops say."