GLEN BURNIE, MD – A police officer for Anne Arundel County, Maryland, noticed something unusual while working a moonlighting job at the Walmart in Glen Burnie. What caught his eye was a man shopping in the store with a pistol holstered on his hip.
The man gave his name as Bree Jones, but that was just one of his lies, according to charging documents. Jones, later identified as Renul Barnet Forbes, had fooled a lot of people — friends, neighbors and even some police officers — into believing he was a federal agent.
According to Capital Gazette, Forbes was in the Walmart when the unidentified off-duty officer noticed him carrying a handgun on his hip. When he was confronted by the officer, Forbes claimed to be a U.S. Marshal. The officer sensed otherwise and detained Forbes and called for backup.
Renul Barnet Forbes, of Glen Burnie, has been charged with dozens of offenses related to impersonating a law enforcement officer and illegally possessing a handgun, court records show. More charges may be pending. https://t.co/YCd6pb9mpj
— Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) September 30, 2020
In charging documents released by authorities, it was discovered that Forbes had convinced an acquaintance to lend him a handgun, had made friends with police officers and would walk around his apartment complex dressed in law enforcement attire. He had a lot of people fooled.
Forbes was charged with a number of offenses, from impersonating a police officer to illegal possession of a handgun, according to court records. Additional charges are possible. He posted a $5,000 unsecured personal bond Sept. 26.
County police officers arriving at the Walmart for the “check subject” call met the off-duty officer in the parking lot with Forbes, who was carrying what appeared to be a Glock handgun. Police said in their charging documents that Forbes refused to show the off-duty officer his badge when asked to produce his ID.
When the responding officers asked him the same question, he “lifted up his sweatshirt and said, ‘Oh, this badge?’ ”
When he pulled up his sweatshirt, the officers saw the firearm, a pair of handcuffs and additional magazines tucked in his belt. He also had a badge pinned to the belt, however officers initially couldn’t determine whether it was real or fake.
Forbes repeated the lie that he was a U.S. Marshal, while noting that people in the area of Glen Burnie had seen him out in the community in his uniform.
Prior to the arrival of county officers and after the initial encounter, Forbes had apparently called another county officer to advise him of the encounter.
Forbes had befriended a number of officers who work out of the Northern District Station in Brooklyn Park. The officer Forbes called had text messages on his phone that proved Forbes had indeed claimed to be a federal agent.
Authorities grew suspicious of Forbes’ tale because his license had been suspended and he was reluctant to show his law-enforcement credentials.
The officers contacted their supervisors and two sergeants and a lieutenant responded to the scene.
The officers then asked to speak with Forbes’ supervisor. Forbes provided a number but the person who answered gave Forbes up, saying that he was not a federal agent.
One of the supervisors on scene contacted a supervisor with the U.S. Marshals Service, who advised him that Forbes was in fact not a U.S. Marshal, and requested he be placed under arrest for impersonating a federal agent. The feds said they would pursue additional charges against Forbes.
Police confiscated the handgun, which turned out to be a realistic-looking air-soft pistol that resembled a Glock, while also confiscating real magazines with hollow-tip rounds loaded into them, according to court records.
Police towed Forbes’ vehicle upon the request of Walmart management and inside police found further evidence of Forbes’ scam. His black Ford Taurus was outfitted with police lights and a siren rigged through USB ports that plugged into the cigarette lighter. There was a control for the setup on the driver’s side visor.
Officers also discovered a brown backpack, in which they recovered a Springfield handgun and a single, loose hollow-point round. When officers contacted the Maryland State Police Gun Center, they were told that Forbes was prohibited from possessing guns and ammo.
The Springfield pistol was registered to another man, whom police then contacted. The man told them that he felt comfortable loaning the handgun to a “U.S. Marshal.”
Thankfully, Forbes the fantasist hadn’t done worse in the guise of being a federal agent.
You’ll find police impersonators in every state, and Law Enforcement Today recently ran a story abut one in Florida whose real occupation is in county government:
OSCEOLA COUNTY, FL – A county commissioner who was arrested under charges of impersonating a police officer reportedly has no intentions of resigning from his position and still intends to continue his campaign to land a legislative role.
Osceola County commissioner arrested on charge of impersonating law enforcement officer won’t resign, end campaign, spokesperson says https://t.co/CJLgbYgfH2
— cannizzaro wilson (@MRCANNIZZARO23) July 22, 2020
The controversy is surrounding current Osceola County Commissioner Fred Hawkins, who is also gunning to be elected for Florida House District 42. Hawkins bonded out of jail after being arrested for impersonating an officer when he was caught on camera flashing a badge and alleging he was with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident apparently happened back in Nov. 2019 at a Turnberry Reserve Homeowner’s Association meeting. Apparently, Hawkins was attempting to make his way into a public meeting but he was blocked by security guard Ailyn DePena.
During this interaction, Hawkins flashed a badge that he’d received after being inducted as an Osceola County Sheriff’s Office special deputy and noted that the security guard was about to be arrested after getting physical with him.
Interestingly enough, DePena was arrested for battery against Hawkins by a deputy on site – but the charges were later dropped.
While Hawkins was a special deputy, that accolade does not allow someone to be granted with powers of arrest. However, Hawkins did not actually attempt to enact an arrest. An investigator with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement stated that Hawkins “falsely assumed or pretended to be a Sheriff,” after reviewing the video footage captured.
Osceola County Commissioner Fred Hawkins is out of jail on bond Tuesday morning after turning himself into law enforcement Monday night on charges of impersonating a deputy last year. https://t.co/uP5W17A5tX
— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) July 21, 2020
This is what led to Hawkins’ arrest.
Yet, Hawkins’ spokeswoman Christina Johnson claims that this is nothing more than a political attack against the Republican candidate:
“Commissioner Hawkins will continue to serve in his position as Commissioner and absolutely continue his bid for House District 42.
“These politically motivated attacks will not distract him from running a campaign based on his record of principled and community-based leadership. We are confident once the facts of this case are brought forward Commissioner Hawkins will be exonerated.”
This is certainly an interesting case, in that the alleged actions and details caught on video toe a fine line as to whether Hawkins was indeed illegally posing as a sheriff’s deputy or not.
Because while a designation of “special deputy” claims to not afford “arrest powers” – every citizen in Florida is actually allowed to enact an arrest if they witness or are the victim of a presumed felony.
This will be a case for the books, as they say.
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