Teen Charged for Allegedly Impersonating Police Officer During Traffic Stop

A teenager has been charged with impersonating a police officer after he performed a traffic stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last month.

Reports said Brenden Wysynski, 18, was driving a grey Ford sedan with no police markings when he pulled over a vehicle near Fourth Street and I-40 for allegedly driving 120 mph on the freeway.

However, Wysynski’s vehicle was outfitted with flashing red and blue lights and a police radio.

An officer with the Albequerque Police Department (APD) said Wysynski waved to him as he passed by the fake traffic stop, so he stopped to assist him.

“The criminal complaint stated Wysynski was dressed in plain clothes but that he had a ‘star-shaped badge’ on his belt and told police he was a deputy with BCSO,” according to KRQE.

Reports said the teenager told the officer his name and claimed he had worked for the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) for the past three years.

On September 9, the APD tweeted a photo of Wysynski:

#APD arrested Brenden Wysynski (18) for impersonating a police officer after he pulled over a car on 4th/I-40. An APD officer stopped to assist who he believed was an officer on a traffic stop, when he encountered Wysynski pretending to be a BCSO deputy. pic.twitter.com/4lCsoSuQhr

— Albuquerque Police Department (@ABQPOLICE) September 9, 2019

Bodycam footage shows the moment Wysynski points to the badge on his belt and tells the officer “This is all I got,” when he is asked to produce some identification.

When the officers asked where he got the badge, he told them he bought it online. Moments later, he changed his story and said it had belonged to his father who worked for the BCSO before his death.

However, investigators found out later that no one with that last name had ever worked for the department.

Wysynski also told officers that his birth year was 1994 but the year listed on his vehicle’s registration said 2001. Officers confirmed this fact after they searched the police database, according to ABC News.

The criminal complaint stated that when officers arrested Wysynski and placed him in the back seat of the police car, he confessed and again told them he bought the badge online and said he had never worked for the BCSO.

“I’m just gonna be straight-up with you. I’m not a cop,” the young man said.

Prior to his arrest, the only thing Wysynski reportedly had on his record was a speeding ticket.