Man who made news as teen police impersonator is now accused of responding to a shots fired calls, pulling people over, making TikTok videos in uniform
A 26-year-old man who has pleaded guilty three times to impersonating a police officer since he first posed as a cop when he was an eighth grader is being held in jail again after Chicago police say he pretended multiple times to be a Chicago police sergeant on social media and in person.
Vincent Richardson was charged with three counts of felony impersonation of a police officer, police said. He was also wanted on a warrant. Cook County Judge Arthur Wesley Willis set bail at $75,000 during an online bond hearing Friday afternoon.
Richardson is accused of pretending to be a Chicago police sergeant three times: on Jan. 14, Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, all in the 2300 block of West Jackson Boulevard, in the city’s Near West Police District.
Richardson, who was dressed in a full police uniform, “assisted” Chicago Housing Authority security officers during a traffic stop at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Jackson Boulevard address, police said in an officer safety alert issued Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Friday that Richardson was known to frequent a CHA building at 2333 W. Jackson Blvd., where he befriended several security guards and told them he was a Chicago police sergeant. He wore a Chicago police uniform and appeared to carry a weapon with him.
One of the security guard witnesses first met Richardson on Jan. 8, and said Richardson had been wearing a Chicago police sweater and badge and a holster with a gun, prosecutors said.
On Jan. 14, Richardson was at the CHA property in full Chicago police sergeant attire and told another security guard that he had been a police officer for six years in the Gresham, Englewood and Chicago Lawn districts and that he had been promoted, prosecutors said.
The security guard later told police about hearing the sound of gunshots coming from the courtyard and reporting it over the radio. Richardson tried to locate the source of the shots fired and used a flashlight to tell cars to slow down, which was captured on city surveillance cameras, prosecutors said.
On Jan. 28, Chicago police became aware of someone impersonating an officer on TikTok and Instagram, prosecutors said. In a TikTok video, Richardson is seen firing a weapon at a shooting range.
On Feb. 3, police started keeping watch on Richardson at his home in Lisle and saw him leave his home in a Chicago police sergeant uniform, prosecutors said.
That day, Richardson, who was still in the uniform and with a gun belt, handcuffs and a scanner, went to the CHA property while driving a black Lincoln sedan, prosecutors said. He pulled over a vehicle, searched the people inside and released them. One of the security guards also asked Richardson that day about his gun — which the guard told investigators appeared to be a replica or BB gun — and Richardson left the area.
On Feb. 4, Richardson contacted the security guards and said he was promoted to SWAT, and he tried to sell them law enforcement equipment, prosecutors said. Two days later, he met with one of the security guards at Black Cat Lounge, and the security guard gave him money to buy a radio. Richardson never gave him a radio or returned his money.
On Feb. 9, officers saw Richardson in a Chrysler and saw that he had some equipment that was standard for law enforcement, prosecutors said. Later, officers executed a search warrant of his house, and he was arrested.
Richardson is on probation for possession of a stolen vehicle, prosecutors said. He also had two previous felony convictions, in 2013 and 2016, for impersonation of a police officer, that both resulted in 18-month sentences.
His private defense attorney Jae Ku Kwon confirmed that Richardson lives in Lisle and said that his girlfriend and mother live nearby. Richardson also has steady employment as the fleet manager for a third-party Amazon contractor.
Richardson has a long history of impersonating the police, beginning when he was 14. In that incident, in 2009, he was so convincing that he was assigned a radio and went on patrol with a real officer for more than five hours on the South Side, driving a squad car and even making an arrest before police caught on.
Then-Mayor Richard M. Daley furiously called out police. “Where is the desk sergeant? The field lieutenant? The captain on duty?” he said. In all, 14 officers, including the captain running the watch during Richardson’s shift and seven sergeants, were brought up on departmental charges, according to an Internal Affairs report on the incident obtained by the Tribune under a Freedom of Information Act request.
The report faulted supervising officers for being unaware of Richardson’s presence, while the patrol officers were taken to task for not noticing he was an impostor and not properly notifying their superiors to the presence of an officer from another district.
When he was 19, in 2013, Richardson pretended he was an Englewood District police officer when he tried to buy police equipment at a uniform store.
While being detained at the store, he allegedly told the real police: “I know what it’s like to be one of you. … I respect you because I did it for a day chasing and helping people. My intentions are never to hurt people, just to help.”
At 21, in 2015, Richardson was arrested with another man after police stopped their car while investigating a call of shots fired in the 1200 block of West Marquette Road in Englewood, according to police. Richardson and the other man, Dantrell Moore, also 21, were wearing bulletproof vests and had a police duty belt, a scanner, a BB gun and a stun gun, police said.
Richardson was charged with felony impersonating a police officer.
At 22, Richardson spent 11 months in jail before pleading guilty to his third police impersonation charge — this time for being in possession of policelike gear during a May 2015 traffic stop.
Originally from the Englewood neighborhood, Richardson is the oldest of three sons and said exposure to a youth police Explorer club at the Englewood police station and the older male officers changed his life.
During an interview with the Chicago Tribune’s William Lee, he often talked about “being on both sides” of the badge, as both a cop and a civilian. He expressed support both for officers working the beat and young men caught up in a web of aggressive policing. He spoke about the allure of being in a “law enforcement family.”
The Chicago Tribune’s Rosemary Sobol contributed.