Accused police impersonators face charges in five South Jersey towns

Two men are accused of impersonating law enforcement officer in multiple towns in Camden and Gloucester County.

Shanndoah Gray, 51, of Lindenwold, and Michael Ficara, 39, of Mount Royal, are charged with robbery and other offenses in connection with incidents in Deptford, Gloucester Township, Lindenwold, Winslow, and Washington Township, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

The string of incidents began on the night of Sept. 19, when the men allegedly used a red sedan to stop a driver on Little Gloucester Road in Gloucester Township, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

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"One of the suspects then grabbed the victim by the shirt and stole cash from him," the statement said.

Two victims were robbed in Lindenwold around 9:45 p.m. on Sept. 30.

The suspects, who were said to have dressed as plainclothes officers, "searched the victims and stole money from them," the statement said. "When one of the victims confronted the two suspects, one of the suspects displayed a small handgun."

Three efforts failed on Sept. 28 - one at 4:45 a.m. when a Winslow motorist requested the presence of a marked unit, and the others when drivers fled in Washington Township at 9:05 p.m. and from Almonesson Creek Park in Deptford at 10:45 p.m.

Gray and Ficara also are accused of taking a wallet from a parked car in Washington Township.

Investigators identified the suspects after they tried to use a credit card from the wallet at an area grocery store, the statement said.

Video from Washington Township showed the suspects' vehicle was a red Ford Taurus, matching a car owned by Ficara, it added.

Gray was arrested in Lindenwold on Oct. 11. Ficara is in Salem County Jail on unrelated charges.

The charges against the men, which include impersonating a law enforcement officer and credit card theft, are only allegations. No one has been convicted in the case.

Anyone with information or who may have been a victim of a similar incident is asked to call Prosecutor's Detective Ryan Durham at 856-225-5127 and their local police department.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Police impersonators face charges in five South Jersey towns