Police Arrest 3 Alleged Fake Cops Found Driving Around Brooklyn

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police arrested three men in Brooklyn this week, after they were allegedly found driving around pretending to be police officers with scanner radios and firearms at their disposal.

Around 8:25 p.m. this past Tuesday, NYPD officers Sarah Sweigart, Marc Lebron and Christian Allen pulled over a 2009 Nissan Altima, after the driver was spotted operating recklessly and running a red light near Bushwick Avenue and Grand Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, police said.

As they approached the car with three men inside, the officers heard NYPD radio transmissions coming from the vehicle. Officer Sweigart then saw the back-seat passenger try to kick something under the front passenger seat, police said.

Police ordered the men to get out of the car, and found two loaded guns – a .40-caliber Glock and a .38-caliber revolver – under the front passenger seat, police said. The three men were arrested on the spot, police said.

Police also found five scanner radios in the car.

Police later learned that one of the men was wanted by the NYPD Internal Affairs Police Impersonation Unit for a Jan. 6 incident. In that incident, several men – including a 41-year-old man who displayed a black gun and what looked like to be a police badge – placed a 45-year-old man in fear for his safety, police said.

Police did not elaborate on that incident.

The three men in the car – driver Aaron Batista, 41; Kea Kelly, 23; and Benito Soto, 25 – were all charged with criminal impersonation of a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of a radio device, menacing, and harassment.

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