Man with badge tells people in car he’s on a stakeout — but he was no cop, NC police say

A man with a badge said he was doing a stakeout operation — but he wasn’t a cop at all, North Carolina officials say.

Two people were sitting in a car near the Wittenburg Wildlife Access when someone came toward them with a flashlight on Tuesday night, the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

“He stated that he was part of a stake out operation with others watching the area from the woods,” the news release said.

The man, who cops say had a badge, also talked about cars that had been broken into in the Bethlehem region, roughly 65 miles northwest of Charlotte.

But a person at the scene suspected something was off and asked to see the deputy’s ID, according to officials. That’s when cops say an argument broke out and the person called the sheriff’s department.

It turns out, there was no stakeout and the man who approached the car was posing as a cop, according to the Alexander County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect, who officials identified as 38-year-old Timothy Bryan Stafford, was charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer. He is also facing charges of second-degree kidnapping “due to the fact that the individuals in the vehicle did not feel they were free to leave during the encounter.”

Stafford is due in court next week, according to state records. Information for his attorney wasn’t listed in the news release, and a Facebook user believed to be Stafford didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Friday.