A man from Lucedale was arrested in Florida for impersonating a police officer.
On Monday, an officer with the Fort Walton Beach Police Department spotted a man wearing a “generic law enforcement uniform” carrying a firearm inside a Home Depot, where he was reportedly working security. An investigation ensued, bringing detectives from the department’s special investigations unit to the scene.
According to the Fort Walton Beach Police Department, detectives identified the man as 39-year-old Nicholas O’Bryant of Lucedale. Through the investigation, it was discovered that O’Bryant was not a sworn law enforcement officer in either Florida or Mississippi, despite possessing credentials identifying him as a Mississippi police officer.
“The Fort Walton Beach Police Department takes the unauthorized use of law enforcement authority seriously, especially when the individual is armed and presenting himself to the public as a sworn officer,” the department wrote in a release. “Anyone who is unsure whether a person is a legitimate law enforcement officer may call…their local law enforcement agency, to verify.
O’Bryant was arrested and charged with falsely impersonating a law enforcement officer. He was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail.
