CLEVELAND — A Grafton man is facing charges, accused of impersonating a police officer by carrying around a makeshift local police badge and using self-installed dash camera and lights in his own car.
UPDATE: Man arrested for impersonating police officer
On Jan. 23, 41-year-old Seth Adams was arrested after being accused of chasing down a BMW at speeds of more than 80 mph on busy Brookpark Road in North Olmsted.
Adams was released the following day on bond and is due back in Rocky River Municipal Court on March 7 on a slew of charges, including impersonating an officer, menacing, fraudulent use of a VIN number, and possessing criminal tools.
According to police reports, Adams was using orange lights self-installed in his car with police stickers on top. The Bay Village Police badge he was carrying was actually a department challenge coin taped into his wallet.
Adams was reportedly wearing a sweater vest that resembled a police uniform with an American flag on the breast and a leather bullet belt that displayed multiple .22 caliber bullets.
On Tuesday, Feb. 20, around 11 p.m., Cleveland Police were called to W. 3rd Street and Huron Road near Tower City for a report of a person impersonating a police officer. When asked if Adams is Cleveland Police's suspect, officers couldn't comment on specifics of its ongoing investigation.
On Jan. 23, Adams is seen in body camera footage inside a silver Jetta after reportedly attempting to chase down a black BMW. According to police reports, Adams had an altercation with a man inside a black BMW in the Brookpark Road Walmart parking lot. Adams is accused of approaching that car and telling the person inside they are "going to jail" for tinted windows and lack of license plates.
On body camera footage, Adams details that interaction for North Olmsted police, "I was filming around the car, I didn't know he was inside of it was completely tinted out, no license plates. They rolled the window down and said, 'what the f*** bro?' And I'm like 'put license plates on your car so we know who you are. You can't drive around like that.'"
The footage shows officers discovering Adams carrying around a makeshift local police agency badge.
"What do you have a Bay Village badge for?" The North Olmsted Police officer asked Adams.
Adams responded, "Uh, you can talk to Bay Village about that."
The officer continues, "Why would I talk to Bay Village about that? I'm talking to you right now."
Adams said, "Well it's family, I'm associated with the Bay Village Police Department."
When Adams was asked to get out of his car, Police found he used a playing card and a Cleveland Police business card to cover the VIN number of his own vehicle. When asked, Adams said, "Somebody did that. I don't know. Downtown Cleveland, what can you do? You know what goes on down there."
Cleveland Police want to remind you if you believe someone might be trying to impersonate an officer while interacting with you, call 911.
"If you're really not sure and there's just something that doesn't seem right, you have the ability if you have a phone call 911 or call our dispatchers 621-1234 here in Cleveland and say 'Hey, I'm at this location, there's what we believe to be an officer.' And the dispatcher should be able to confirm with the officers, if they're Cleveland Police officers, if they're in that location," said Sgt. Freddy Diaz, Cleveland Police Public Information Officer.
Ohio Revised Code requires officers to have both blue and red lights on their vehicles. And you should always check for a prominently displayed badge.
"It can be a serious crime. Obviously, this is something that could put people in danger, so we discourage it. We obviously don't want that, especially if they're out there putting law enforcement in a bad light because it doesn't represent what we believe," said Diaz.
If you have any information about Tuesday night's incidents in Cleveland, call: 216-623-5300.
