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Group Arrested For Pretending To Be Cops And Responding To 911 Calls

Group Arrested For Pretending To Be Cops And Responding To 911 Calls

They were caught after victims complained that they were being treated badly

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

There are plenty of movies where people take it upon themselves to be the law and order in their village, town or city (think Batman, Spider-Man or Superman).

But it appears that you have to have super powers because cops and firefighters definitely don't like you impersonating them and pretending like you know what to do.

That's landed three people in hot water in America for being involved in a group that responded to 911 calls and were sometimes the first responders to an emergency.

According to Nola, police allege Emily Nicole Burrison, 27, and Jeffrey Lee Jones, 29, spent months going across Genesee County helping out with operations like car crashes, house fires and crime scenes.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said: "We believe that on some occasions, they were the first to show up on crime scenes. On some occasions, the real police would ask them to perform tasks at the scene, not realizing they were imposters."

Emily Burrison, left, and Jeffrey Jones, right.
Genesee County Sheriff's Office

But their big scheme was foiled in September last year when they were pretending to be park rangers at Stepping Stone Falls and Picnic area.

They noticed two people trying to enter the park and the imposters allegedly told them it was closed, handcuffed them and asked for their driver's licenses. One of the fake enforcers said he was putting their information into a criminal watch list before letting them go.

The victims reported the incident to the police, saying the 'officers' were being heavy handed and that's when the authorities were like 'wtf they aren't our guys'.

Prosecutor Leyton added: "We believe they've done this to other people. We're asking people to come forward if, in fact, they believe they've been victimized by people they don't believe are real police officers."

PA

They called themselves the Genesee County Fire and EMS Media-Genesee County Task Force Blight Agency and kept a log of every call out they attended, and it's believed there were up to 10 members.

Police Chief Terence Green said: "It's a grave concern. It's very serious. People are going to question if [plainclothes officers] are legitimate because of these individuals who are illegitimate."

Prosecutor Leyton added: "To me, this is serious stuff. You can't run around pretending to be law enforcement. I don't know what these people were thinking."

Burrison, Jones and a third person have been charged with three counts of unlawful imprisonment and one count of impersonating a peace officer to commit a crime. There are five other co-defendants in the case, but they haven't been charged yet.

Featured Image Credit: Genesee County Prosecutor's Office

Topics: Police, America, World News, News, US News, crime, court