Convicted police impostor arrested for playing firefighter
Even fake police officers want to be fake firefighters. That appears to be the case with David Battle who was arrested by California’s San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department for showing up at a wildfire in a firefighter’s uniform.
Battle, who deputies say had a handgun in the stolen Crown Victoria he was driving, had been arrested and convicted three times since 1998 on charges related to stealing police cars and impersonating a police officer.
Details on the previous arrests can be found in this article by The Press-Enterprise.
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Brian Rokos, The Press-Enterprise:
David Anthony Battle, who has been convicted of stealing a police car and impersonating a police officer, is in trouble again after authorities said he posed as a firefighter at the Lake fire near Big Bear and had a stolen gun inside a stolen vehicle.
Battle, 44, of San Bernardino, raised suspicion Saturday morning, June 27, when deputies saw him driving a white Ford Crown Victoria – for years the vehicle of choice for police patrol cars – in areas in the San Bernardino Mountains that had been closed off by roadblocks, according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Veronica Rocha, Los Angeles Times:
It is unclear whether Battle was trying to join firefighters to battle the blaze or attempting to burglarize the area, sheriff’s spokeswoman Tiffany Swantek said.
He drove a white Crown Victoria — a vehicle typically used by fire officials — into the restricted area when he was stopped at a checkpoint and told deputies he was a firefighter, officials said.
Donning an authorized fire department uniform, Battle said he was trying to find his fire crew and then left the area, officials said.
About 15 minutes later, deputies found Battle in the vehicle in a parking lot at Big Bear High School, which was set up as a command post for the Lake Fire. Deputies approached Battle in the vehicle, and he failed to provide the deputies with proper fire department identification.
Deputies checked the vehicle identification number of the car, and learned it belonged to the City of San Bernardino, and was reportedly stolen about two weeks before the incident.
During a search of the vehicle, deputies found fire equipment, various fire agency uniforms, and a radio stolen from the Lake Fire incident. A stolen handgun was also discovered inside the vehicle.
