Bailiff Charged with Impersonation, False Arrest

[1stWatch]

Gary City, IL:
Paris Harris, 50, a Democratic precinct committeeman in Aetna has been charged with two felonies after an incident where he used a fake police ID to "arrest" Ray Walton, a security guard at a local pharmacy and acquire the key to his van because he was allegedly behind on payments before "releasing" him.

http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/08-26-06_z1_news_11.html

It looks like wannabes and impersonators come from all sorts of backgrounds. I wonder what this person's desire was to do this.

[Mr. Security]

What about the guard?? Lost his job even though he is the victim?? Can't win.

[1stWatch]

This may sound a bit harsh, but he may have been fired for lacking the type of intelligence required to prevent this situation from happening in the first place. I certainly wasn't there and don't know what happened first hand, but the article does make it sound like he just compliantly went with the bailiff after he flashed the fake ID and let him put handcuffs on him and stuff him in the back of a corvette and take his keys. It would seem this reduced his value and credibility as a security officer and most likely cost his company the contract with the pharmacy for failure to provide security or something like that. If it was me, I would insist on taking a close look at the ID and call the real police if I had any concern about it. Then again I'm also more aggressive than the way he was portrayed.

[GCMC Security]

Probably for abandoning his post

Says afterwards he returned to work

[EMTGuard]

...... but the article does make it sound like he just compliantly went with the bailiff after he flashed the fake ID and let him put handcuffs on him and stuff him in the back of a corvette and take his keys......

....lost his company the contract with the pharmacy for failure to provide security or something like that. If it was me, I would insist on taking a close look at the ID and call the real police if I had any concern about it. Then again I'm also more aggressive than the way he was portrayed.

Ok, a bit off topic but that is they type of stuff that always bothered me about TV shows like Law and Order where a couple of cops like Lenny Brisco and his partner of the season would show up at someones place of work, grab him up and slap cuffs on him while telling him "You're under arrest" and shoving him out the door toward the unmarked police car nearby. They never stop to tell the guys cooworkers or boss that they are taking the guy and rarely bother doing more than flashing IDs if not just saying "Police" before cuffing him up. The guy is grabbed and gone within seconds, disapearing into the back of an unmarked sedan like someone being disappeared by the KGB in the old USSR. They never show the owner of a resturant looking for his dishwasher who took the trash out 10 minutes ago and hasn't come back in from the alley. Or the contractor who wonders why "Bob" hasn't gotten back with those paint cans from the truck.

[N. A. Corbier]

Probably for abandoning his post

Says afterwards he returned to work

Heh. In Florida, if you leave your post for any reason, the state says you've abandoned it.

[Mr. Security]

This may sound a bit harsh, but he may have been fired for lacking the type of intelligence required to prevent this situation from happening in the first place. I certainly wasn't there and don't know what happened first hand, but the article does make it sound like he just compliantly went with the bailiff after he flashed the fake ID and let him put handcuffs on him and stuff him in the back of a corvette and take his keys. It would seem this reduced his value and credibility as a security officer and most likely cost his company the contract with the pharmacy for failure to provide security or something like that. If it was me, I would insist on taking a close look at the ID and call the real police if I had any concern about it. Then again I'm also more aggressive than the way he was portrayed.

On the other hand, if a real police officer had a warrant for your arrest, he probably isn't going to want to dilly-dally while you make up your mind if he is for real. If this guard had resisted because he believed the officer/arrest was questionable and he was mistaken, the consequences would have been much worse than the way he handled it. Besides, did the Rx really want a physical in process in the middle of their stores w/ customers observing and at risk of injury?