Police: Officer-impersonating teen struck again

CHICAGO, July 25 (UPI) -- Chicago police said a 19-year-old man busted four years ago for posing as a police officer was allegedly caught trying to impersonate an officer a second time.

Authorities said Vincent Richardson was arrested Tuesday at the VG Uniform store after a clerk became suspicious of his claims to being an Englewood District officer and performed an Internet search that revealed he had been caught posing as an officer at the age of 14 in 2009, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

Richardson was arrested on a felony count of impersonating a police officer.

"I know what it's like to be one of you," police quoted Richardson as saying. "I respect you because I did it for a day chasing and helping people. My intentions are never to hurt people, just to help."

Police said Richardson's impersonation in 2009 was so convincing he was able to go on patrol with a real officer for more than five hours before he was discovered.