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Firefighter impersonator arrested says he’s chief of his own private fire department
Richard Stinson, 27, was arrested Wednesday and is charged with three counts of impersonating a public official and one count of unauthorized use of emergency lights.
The Ames (Iowa) Police Department said Stinson told an officer about the blue lights on his vehicle and claimed he was a volunteer firefighter in Clear Lake and Soldier Creek, Nebraska, during a routine traffic stop in November.
Police followed up and determined he was not a firefighter.
Three weeks later, Stinson showed up at an accident in Ames and told both drivers he was a firefighter.
Despite the arrest, Stinson continues to claim that he is a firefighter.
