..and doesn't get caught for over 5 hrs!

Teen pleads not guilty to impersonating officer

CHICAGO (AP) -- A 14-year-old boy accused of impersonating a police officer and going on patrol has pleaded not guilty.

The teenager appeared in a juvenile courtroom on Monday with his hands cuffed behind his back. A judge ordered that he be held at the juvenile center because he could pose a danger to himself.

On Saturday the teen, wearing an officer's uniform, walked into a police station and was assigned to go on patrol. He partnered with another officer for about five hours before the ruse was discovered.

Police say the boy did not have a gun, never issued any tickets and didn't drive the squad car.

The Rev. Roosevelt Watkins says the boy had lived with him for much of the past year and is fascinated by police work.

© 2009 The Associated Press.


This has written all over it.

So you can just walk into a police station dressed like a cop and they will start giving you orders and sending you on patrol? I worked as a security guard in the Marines and something like that happening is unfathomable.

That's CHI-TOWN, baby!!

Mcloving!

I mean, i just loved those news. I love those little moments in life that people take you on some shit you dont have a fuckin clue but then you go for fun.

people only know the information they're given. fuck yeah, this guy deserves props.

I bet he only got caught on a fluke too.

********UPDATE********
Busted just because someone noticed he wasn't wearing the right star!!

Teen pleads not guilty to impersonating officer

By MICHAEL TARM
Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- A 14-year-old aspiring police officer who allegedly donned a uniform and managed to go on a real traffic patrol pleaded not guilty on Monday to impersonating an officer.

The muscular teen, standing about 5-foot-3, appeared glum in juvenile court. Judge Andrew Berman ordered that the boy remain in custody for at least several more weeks because he could pose a danger to himself.

Outside the courtroom, a recent guardian described the teenager as a bright boy who dreamed of one day becoming a police officer. He was detained two previous times for impersonating an officer, though he never managed to take the ruse as far as he last weekend, said the Rev. Roosevelt Watkins, who said the teen lived with him last year after his mom kicked him out.

"He has good intentions, good desires, good aspirations," Watkins said. "He's just going about it the wrong way."

Police said the boy reported for duty Saturday at a South Side police station and was assigned to go on patrol in a squad car with an actual officer. Police have said he did not have a gun, never issued any tickets and didn't drive the car.

The teen went so far as to stuff magazines in his shirt so it would appear he wore a bulletproof vest, a prosecutor said Monday. He was detected only after the patrol was over five hours later, when someone noticed he wasn't wearing a regulation star.

The boy once took part in a Chicago program for youth interested in policing, so he would have been familiar with some procedures and police lingo - helping him blend in, Watkins said.

Police have said the incident constituted a serious breach of security, adding they are reviewing procedures to ensure something similar can't happen again. Discipline may be possible after the investigation is complete.

The child, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, is obsessed with police dramas on television and with playing computer games where police figures chase criminals, said Watkins, who is pastor of Chicago's Bethlehem Star Missionary Baptist Church.

Berman said he wanted a mental health report done soon - a psychological evaluation Watkins said he welcomed.

Neither of the teen's parents appeared at Monday's hearing, said Watkins, who stood next to the boy during his appearance and also answered several questions from the judge.

Watkins said the boy only returned to live with his mother last month, but left again and stayed at a shelter around the time his mother filed a police report alleging the boy had hit her. Prosecutors told the judge there were two warrants for the boy's arrest as of the weekend, including one for domestic battery.

The teenager was well behaved and never violent or abusive when he lived with him, Watkins said.

"He's an average teen," he said. "When he went back with his mother, that's when things started spiraling out of control."

Watkins said he hopes authorities will show leniency and let the boy to go back to school, saying he aspired to go on to college - and perhaps even still become a real police officer.

But Watkins added the boy must know his weekend arrest will make that dream more elusive.

"He knows this has affected his future," Watkins said.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

He did this at the Englewood station, which is the worst area of Chicago. Dozens of students were killed last year in schools alone.

I'm not saying this is an excuse in any way, but they are surely over burdened.

someone find a police offer that wants to adopt a teenager asap

That's hilarious, but what's not funny is their keeping this kid in jail for a few weeks because of it. That's not right.

Really? What he did was kind of serious.

The people at the police station who let this happen should be in a lot more trouble than the kid. In my opinion.

the cop he was partnered with is a moron and his abilities of reason and judgment should definitely come under review....i can see the kid being able to get swept along with the flow and whatnot, which is retarded in itself, but once he's in the car, alone, one on one with this actual cop, he doesn't clue in until someone notices his badge is fake?....the kid didn't even have a gun!...did this not occur to the cop?...did he not ask the kid any questions about his background or anything?....the only excuse would be that there was absolutely no communication between the two, but this is very far from a reasonable excuse and presents a whole new set of problems/questions....i don't care how much nypd blue this kid watched or how "muscular" he is, he's still a 5-foot-3, 14 year old kid...with magazines in his shirt.....this cop is a complete fucking numbskull and should not be in this line of work...

Agreed. It's nearly unfathomable that the ruse lasted so long.

Would have been better if it was "impregnates cop," but this is pretty good too.