Vincent Richardson, Who Fooled CPD And Worked Full-Duty Shift When He Was 14, Has Been Charged With Impersonating Police Officer Again
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Vincent Richardson is now a 12-year veteran fake cop.
He made national headlines impersonating a police officer when he was 14 – even convincing the real Chicago Police he was legit and getting to drive a squad car. Now at the age of 26, he has been arrested on charges of doing it yet again.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported Thursday night, Richardson's latest charges came after he was arrested at 4:01 a.m. Wednesday in west suburban Lisle, where he now lives.
Police said Richardson impersonated a Chicago Police sergeant in incidents on Jan. 14, Jan. 27, and Feb. 3 in the 2300 block of West Jackson Boulevard on the Near West Side.
Richardson's TikTok is filled with videos of him dancing in a police uniform. Other videos show him in a bulletproof vest and shooting at the range.
The username for the TikTok account is "vince_cpdsgt", and "#copsoftiktok" is among the hashtags he uses.
Richardson is not new to the fake cop game. He was once known as the "kid cop."
In 2009, when he was 14, Richardson convinced actual officers when he showed up at the Grand Crossing (3rd) District station claiming to be an officer from another district. The officers let him work a full duty patrol shift with them – in which he also even helped with an arrest – before they figured out what was going on.
CBS 2 talked at the time with Richardson's pastor, the Rev. Roosevelt Watkins.
"Because of his infatuation of becoming a police officer, he attempted to fulfill his dreams at an early age," Watkins said.
The 14-year-old Richardson bought his uniform for the shift at a Mount Greenwood neighborhood store.
"He looked young enough to play with my teenager sons," a store employee said.
Months later, Richardson played dress-up again - this time as a businessman who went to a Lexus dealership asking for a test drive. He ended up driving off in the Lexus and crashing it.
In 2013, the kid cop was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempting to buy a police uniform.
He was again arrested in Englewood for impersonation in 2015 at the age of 21 - pulled over wearing a policy duty belt equipped with stun guns and scanners. Also arrested in that incident was Dantrell Moore, also 21.
Richardson also was arrested in a non-impersonation-related incident 2010, and sentenced to juvenile detention, after pushing his mother and stealing his uncle's car. In 2011, he was charged as an adult with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
And now, despite being busted as the kid cop over a decade ago, Richardson's legal troubles for impersonating police continue.
At a bail hearing Friday afternoon, a judge set Richardson's bond at $75,000. He is due back in court on Feb. 19.