FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Miramar man charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer during an illegal traffic stop bonded out of jail hours after he appeared in court.
7News cameras captured 29-year-old Davonte Thompson as he walked out of the Broward County Jail, Wednesday night.
“I don’t know what the police found. I don’t know what the police is accusing that they found, but no further questions,” he said.
Thompson was arrested in Pembroke Pines after, police said, he pretended to be an officer.
According to police, Thompson was driving an SUV when he pulled a driver over in the parking lot of a TD Bank branch on Pines Boulevard, at around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Investigators said that the suspect then produced a stolen badge from Louisiana and called 911 himself to report a “reckless driver.”
When asked about that outside Broward County Jail, Thompson said he wanted to get that motorist off the road.
“I got in an accident a long time ago, previously in my life and, you know, people that just drive reckless and crazy, I mean, honestly, I mean, I don’t want to get this done again,” he said.
But that explanation did not cut it for the real Pembroke Pines Police officers who placed him under arrest.
The officers wrote in their report that Thompson “…was not a police officer, and that he used a stolen police badge to illegally conduct the traffic stop.”
Investigators said the badge belonged to a retired sheriff’s deputy from the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana.
The suspect appeared in court, Wednesday morning.
“Good morning, sir. you’re charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer,” said the judge.
The court noted that Thompson had no record prior to this incident.
“I see no criminal history, so I’m not recommending as high a bond as I normally would,” the judge said.
Though he’s never been caught doing this before, police are asking the public to give them a call at 954-431-2200 of they believe Thompson has illegally stopped them.
Thompson on Wednesday paid his $2,500 bond. The judge also ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation.
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