Nassau Cops: Elmont Teen Impersonated An Officer, Charged With Menacing
ELMONT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- What started as an apparent road rage incident Monday has resulted in the arrest of a 19-year-old Elmont man.
Andrew Schreier was behind the wheel when he pulled alongside another car, pulled out a gold badge, and said "I'm a cop, and I'll give you tickets," according to Nassau County police. Schreier then pulled out what appeared to be a black pistol and pointed it at the other car, police said.
"No one could really tell by look at this that it was not a real gun," said Nassau County Police Inspector Kenneth Lack.
The occupants of the other car followed Schreier and called 911, police said. Schreier drove to a dead end street, ditched his car and tried to run away, police said.
Nassau Cops: Elmont Teen Impersonated An Officer, Charged With Menacing
They arrested him a short time later in the back yard of a nearby home. He had a glass bottle of what was believed to be the drug Ecstasy in his shoe, police said. They said they recovered a pellet gun as well.
Schreier's parents were in tears in court. His father has worked as a postal inspector and customs agent. Police said the badge was his dad's and that the pistol was just a BB gun.
"It may seem like a big deal and certainly the judge thought that it was substantial charge, but again, as it plays out and the real facts come to light, it may not be that necessarily is what happened," defense attorney Howard Schwartz told CBS 2's Carolyn Gusoff.
Schreier had a forged New Jersey driver's license, forged Department of Homeland Security ID, and two Federation of Postal Police photo IDs, police said. The teen admitted to police to counterfeiting some of the I.D. cards, Gusoff reported.
"Those particular identification cards are not very sophisticated, certainly not the cards with the safeguards we have today in law enforcement. Those are rather old, so those are not that difficult to reproduce," Lack said.
Neighbors said Schreier is a Dean's List student at Farmingdale College.
"He's so polite," neighbor Louise Caggiano told Gusoff. "I can't believe it really and truly. And they're a beautiful, beautiful family."
Police said the victims in the case did just the right thing. If you doubt the identity of someone claiming to be a cop, call 911 and ask for a marked car.
Schreier faces charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, forgery, criminal impersonation, menacing, and possession of a dangerous weapon.
He was released on $50,000 bond.
