Corrections officer impersonator arrested at Miami school

MIAMI (AP) — An 18-year-old is accused of impersonating a corrections officer while talking to staff members at a Miami high school.

Miami-Dade school police noticed the young man inside Miami Palmetto Senior High School around 1 p.m. Thursday.

He was wearing a Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department jacket and traffic vest, and had a Florida corrections badge with a photo that police said did not look like him, the report said,

The young man told officers that he’d just been hired by the corrections department and that he would be attending the academy soon, WPLG reported.

Police said he had a handcuff case attached to his belt, along with a pouch on his hip in the shape of a firearm.

Officers detained him and patted him down. They found a pair of handcuffs, a thermometer shaped like a firearm, a pocket knife and two credit cards that did not belong to him.

He was arrested for impersonating an officer, trespassing on school property with a firearm, unlawfully possessing a stolen credit or debit card, burglary, and unlawful use of a police badge.

He complained of heart pain and difficulty breathing and was taken to a hospital to be checked out before being booked into jail.