‘He Picked The Wrong Car:’ Massapequa Man Covicted After Impersonating An Officer: DA

MINEOLA, NY. – A Massapequa man has been convicted of six criminal charges after impersonating a police officer, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

Prosecutors said 27-year-old Andrew Denton was pulled over in April 2023 while driving a Chevrolet Impala that had been retrofitted to look like a police car. The retrofitting featured emergency lights on the front, rear and sides of the car; Denton was told to remove the lights and issued a warning by the officer who pulled him over, officials said.

“Instead, believing he was above the law, the wannabe continued driving that imposter Impala and only became more brazen,” the district attorney said. “Six months later, Denton flashed his lights and brake-checked another vehicle on the highway, but he picked the wrong car. Actual plainclothes police officers were driving that vehicle.”

That brake check, prosecutors say, took place on Oct. 11, 2023. After brake-checking the officers’ car, police say Denton turned on the emergency lights on the Impala, at which point officers realized Denton’s car did not match the characteristics of an unmarked police vehicle. Among the signs, officers said, was that Denton’s Impala had too many lights in it to be an official unmarked vehicle.

Police followed the Impala off the highway and turned on their own emergency lights to pull the car over, officials said. Denton slowed the car down, and prosecutors say he began rummaging around in the front passenger seat of the car. After turning on his emergency lights one more time, he stopped the car, the DA said.

Prosecutors said officers approaching the vehicle spotted a flare gun in the glovebox, as well as a light designed to be mounted on a gun barrel. At that point, prosecutors said Denton and a passenger in the car were asked to vacate the vehicle, which officers searched and found a knife, an NYPD shield, handcuffs, flares, and firearm-cleaning brushes. Prosecutors said the officers also found a backpack with a loaded gun in it, with DNA on the gun that matched Denton’s.

Denton was arrested and the car was impounded, but not before a search of the trunk revealed a baton, a fake taser, a radio, another shield and a tactical police vest, the DA said.

His trial began Oct. 16, and he was convicted Wednesday, the DA said. He was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of criminal impersonation and two traffic infractions, the DA said.

Prosecutors say he could face up to 15 years in prison, with a sentencing scheduled for Dec. 3.