Just before 10 p.m. Wednesday, a woman called Cleveland police to say her step-son was robbed at gunpoint on West 33rd Street.
She said she witnessed two men, claiming to be private police officers, pull him out of his vehicle.
According to a police report, she then said she saw a white Ford Explorer backing out of her driveway.
Not believing they were police, she confronted the men.
They showed her a gold badge that she said was actually a security officer’s badge.
The woman told police that’s when one of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at the throat of her step-son’s friend. Police said the other suspect urged him not to shoot, and they drove away.
“We teach our kids to trust police, and if you got somebody that’s, I don’t know, impersonating them like that, then it makes a lack of trust of police officers,” said Cleveland resident, Dean Jones.
A short time later, an officer responded to the McDonald’s just up the street at West 32nd and Clark. A 24-year-old man claimed two men in a white SUV, claiming to be the police, took him out of his car, pointed a gun at him and took a small bag of marijuana from him.
“We’ll never know whether that’s true or not because police ride in all different types of cars nowadays, so we wouldn’t know and that’s a good way to get somebody, and I’m happy got them, if they did,” said resident Unique Terry.
Police said the officers saw the SUV pull into a driveway near West 45th and Marvin. They arrested a 21-year old man and 32-year old man, although they have not been charged.
Officers said one of them had a gold badge around his neck, and they found a gun, police officer duty belt, ammunition and walkie talkies inside the vehicle.
According to the report, one of the men told officers he “always wanted to be a police officer and I know I was in the wrong” and “that it was fun being a cop for a day.”
“I’m glad that they got them now instead of waiting until it got more serious,” said resident Angelo Farmer.
As of Friday night, both men were being held in the Cleveland City Jail. They could face charges that include robbery and impersonating a police officer.
Source- FOX 8