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Faux officer pretends to make Wal-Mart arrest (dispute over a parking spot)
Sun Herald.com ^ | 5-7-4 | By ROBIN FITZGERALD

Posted on 8/7/2004, 10:30:43 AM by dadburn

D'IBERVILLE - A dispute over a parking spot at Wal-Mart could cost a man six months in jail and a $500 fine.

At least, that's the penalty for conviction of impersonating a police officer, a misdemeanor charge authorities have filed on a warrant for the man's arrest.

Charles K. Edmonson, 38, is accused of pretending to be an officer and threatening to arrest a woman who took the parking spot he wanted Tuesday, said Harrison County Sheriff's Capt. Ron Pullen. Investigators obtained a warrant Friday for Edmonson's arrest.

It is the second report of faux cops in Harrison County this week. On Thursday, a couple claiming to be New Orleans police officers showed a badge and took a Biloxi woman's cash.

The victim from Wal-Mart told deputies she pulled into a parking spot and a man got out of a green 1999 Pontiac Grand Am, identified himself as a police officer and told her she was under arrest. The man was not wearing a uniform and didn't show a badge.

"He walked around to the back of her car with his cell phone and acted like he was calling in her tag number to a dispatch center," said Pullen.

The man walked away without saying anything else, parked elsewhere and entered the store. The woman wrote down his tag number, MS 357-JJB, and contacted the Sheriff's Department. Authorities didn't release her name.

"We ran a license check, showed her a photo line-up of pictures and she identified him," said Pullen.

Edmonson's last known address is in Pascagoula. Anyone with information about him is asked to call the Harrison County Sheriff's Department at 897-1364 or the nearest law enforcement agency.

Citizens can confirm an officer's identity by asking to see their badge and their credentials or by calling authorities, said Pullen.

Credentials refer to an identification card with the officer's picture, the agency's name and the signature of the police chief, sheriff or Highway Patrol official. The card is about the size of a credit card.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Mississippi
KEYWORDS: leo; walmart
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1 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:30:44 AM by dadburn
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To: dadburn

we have volunteers who can give real citations to people who park in the handicap spaces.


2 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:33:33 AM by GeronL (geocities.com/geronl is back, or will be)
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To: WKB; MagnoliaMS; MississippiMan; vetvetdoug; NerdDad; Rebel Coach; afuturegovernor; mwyounce; ...

ping


3 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:34:03 AM by dadburn (Isn't it time to say "Bless God ... America")
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To: dadburn

what a maroon


4 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:34:45 AM by GeronL (geocities.com/geronl is back, or will be)
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To: dadburn
A WalMart cop is one level below a mall cop.

This sounds like something from Reno 911.

5 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:40:31 AM by csvset
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To: csvset
A WalMart cop is one level below a mall cop



They should just put a badge on the old guy
that looks through all your stuff when you leave.
6 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:48:34 AM by dadburn (Isn't it time to say "Bless God ... America")
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To: csvset

DO NOT slander the name or degrade the excellent police work done by the squad of Reno 911. They are by far one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the country.


7 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:55:05 AM by rineaux (hardcore)
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To: dadburn

"They should just put a badge on the old guy
that looks through all your stuff when you leave."

I've been to the Wal-mart in our town a few times and that always surprised me. They've got these big, strapping farm boys working the registers and these tiny, wizened folks at the door to prevent you from running off with that Princess Diaries DVD without paying for it!


8 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:57:21 AM by mrs. a (It's a short life but a merry one...)
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To: dadburn

They should just put a badge on the old guy
that looks through all your stuff when you leave.


Once you pay for your stuff at the checkout, it is your property.
The guy at the door has no right to look in your bags.
They are insinuating that everybody is a shoplifter.
I sometimes tell them no and walk out.
If they get pushy, I loudly ask if they are accusing me of theft and if so, they need to call a cop.


9 posted on 8/7/2004, 11:06:26 AM by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get)
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To: philetus

Once you pay for your stuff at the checkout, it is your property.



The only thing they are supposed to look for is anything that is not in a Walmart bag. I always put that on the counter first so it will be the first thing on the list and then the old geezer doesn't have to take 30 minutes looking for it on the tape.


10 posted on 8/7/2004, 11:13:09 AM by dadburn (Isn't it time to say "Bless God ... America")
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To: philetus

There are far too many wannabes with badges they bought at flea markets.


11 posted on 8/7/2004, 11:13:10 AM by Nathaniel
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To: dadburn

Is there another witness?

Could end up being a he said/ she said.


12 posted on 8/7/2004, 12:36:37 PM by harrycarey (Keyes for Senate 2004)
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To: dadburn

I bought a DVD at Wal-Mart. You're supposed to pay for it at the checkout in that department. The cashier is supposed to disable the security alert embedded in the DVD case. He apparently wasn't successful because an alarm went off as I walked out the door and a little old lady came running up and asked to see my receipt.


13 posted on 8/7/2004, 12:42:48 PM by NoControllingLegalAuthority
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To: NoControllingLegalAuthority

You didn't let them see your receipt did you? I just keep on walking. They have no right to search your bag outside of the store. After you leave the Point of Sale and especially get ousdide the store, it's yours (assuming you did pay for it). They can call the police to search the item, but then they may end up with a legal issue on their hands if you do have a valid receipt.

It just frustrates me that they treat me as a criminal and everyone stares while I prove I own it. Sometimes, I'll ask if they are accusing me of stealing something and they'll say no. And then they'll try to say something like we just want to deactivate the device. I'll say I don't mind leaving it activated, have a nice day. And off I go. If they are a new employee, you can usually get a fun response from them.

Another thing to say when they stop you is, "No thanks, I'm trying to quit." By the time they figure out what to say you're at your car already.


14 posted on 8/7/2004, 2:05:11 PM by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: GeronL
we have volunteers who can give real citations to people who park in the handicap spaces.

As often as I see healthy people get out of handicapped tagged cars, I wish I could do something like that.

15 posted on 8/7/2004, 2:16:58 PM by VeniVidiVici (Designate - Infiltrate - Annihilate // Read my lips: More new taxes - John Kerry)
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To: for-q-clinton
In my case, I walked through the first set of automatically-opening double doors. The alarm went off and she got to me before I reached the second set of doors which are the outside doors.

I didn't mind showing a receipt because I had paid for it but I was irritated the alarm device embedded in the DVD case had not been deactivated. The cashier did "rub" the DVD across the deactivation pad but apparently it didn't disable the alarm device.

That same kind of thing has happened to me at Home Depot.

16 posted on 8/7/2004, 2:30:14 PM by NoControllingLegalAuthority
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To: dadburn

Thanks for the ping.

We don't have WalMarts, so I guess
I don't have to worry about anything
like this happening to me. ;o)


17 posted on 8/7/2004, 10:57:11 PM by dixiechick2000 (President Bush is a mensch in cowboy boots.)
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To: dadburn
Citizens can confirm an officer's identity by asking to see their badge and their credentials or by calling authorities, said Pullen.

Credentials refer to an identification card with the officer's picture, the agency's name and the signature of the police chief, sheriff or Highway Patrol official. The card is about the size of a credit card.

yep, to make something like that you would need a computer and some kind of printer. But what's the chance of that?

18 posted on 8/8/2004, 12:10:38 AM by Oztrich Boy ("Despise not the jester. Often he is the only one speaking the truth")
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To: Oztrich Boy

yep, to make something like that you would need a computer and some kind of printer. But what's the chance of that?



Yep a person would have to be like an Oztrich and have his head in the ground not to see that.


19 posted on 8/8/2004, 2:01:49 AM by dadburn (Isn't it time to say "Bless God ... America")
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To: dixiechick2000

We don't have WalMarts,



WHERE was it you say you live again?


20 posted on 8/8/2004, 2:02:30 AM by dadburn (Isn't it time to say "Bless God ... America")
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