UPDATE (June 23, 2017)– Melvin Hall was found not guilty on all counts.
Original story:
INDIANAPOLIS (June 25, 2015) – A man who owns an Indianapolis security business is accused of impersonating a police officer.
Melvin Hall II faces two counts of impersonating a public servant and a count of unlawful display of red and white lamps or red and blue lamps on a vehicle. According to court documents, Hall posed as an officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and Marion County Sheriff’s Department.
Hall is the owner of Urban Tactical Response Agency LLC, which provides security for businesses and apartment complexes around the Indianapolis area. According to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, Hall is not and never has been a certified law enforcement officer in Indiana.
Prosecutors said Hall told prospective employers and other individuals that he was an officer while wearing a uniform and driving a Dodge Charger outfitted to look like a police car complete with flashing red and white lights, a push bar, black hubcaps and a decal resembling a police emblem.
Hall represented himself as an officer while meeting with a local apartment manager to discuss security, prosecutors said. While wearing a shirt that said “police,” police pants, a gun holster and badge, he said he worked in the “west district.” When asked if he was an officer, Hall told the manager he was and had been one for a few years.
The manager became suspicious and contacted IMPD; the department said Hall didn’t work for them.
On one occasion, Hall identified himself as “Lieutenant Hall” with the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, approached a driver and asked for their license, prosecutors said. In a separate incident, Hall knocked on an apartment door, identified himself as being with the sheriff’s department and pulled his gun. He ordered three men inside to come out. At the time, he was working as a security guard at an apartment community, prosecutors said.
Hall was arrested Wednesday. He’s due in court for a pretrial hearing on Friday.
