Davie FL Sept 20 2017 

The Davie Police Department arrested an armed security guard for allegedly falsely impersonating a police officer after a confrontation with a resident.

A Davie officer arrested 31-year-old Antonio Prado and charged him with falsely impersonating an officer, a first-degree felony in Florida, following an incident early Monday.

In a police report, the arresting officer wrote he responded to a call of an off-duty law enforcement officer who said someone attempted to run him over with a vehicle.

When the officer arrived at the scene, Prado, dressed in a security uniform with a belt equipped with a firearm, identified himself as an off-duty Federal Protective Services agent who was working for a security company to help a friend following Hurricane Irma, the report read.

Prado handed to the officer an identification card that said “United States Protective Service” and Prado further said he guarded federal buildings, adding he had the power to arrest, the officer wrote.

The officer then saw the other person involved in the incident, identified as Kristopher Sawczak, inside of a bucket truck at a private property.

Both Prado and Sawczak described the incident to the officer as a verbal argument that occurred when Sawczak drove up to Prado’s parked vehicle.

Prado told the officer Sawczak pulled up to the vehicle and said “I hope you get shot in the face, [explicit]” before driving away, according to the report.

Sawczak told the officer he did pull up next to Prado and did “exchange words with him.”

After the verbal exchange, Prado activated his security vehicle’s emergency lights and followed Sawczak to his residence, the officer wrote. When Sawczak got out of his vehicle to open the property’s locked gate, Prado pulled up and the incident continued.

Sawczak unlocked the gate and tried to enter his property but Prado stood in front of his vehicle, the report read. Prado then pulled out his firearm, which was loaded with live rounds in the chamber.

Prado told the officer he pulled out his gun because he was afraid Sawczak, who was not armed, would run him over. Sawczak pulled into his property after Prado moved out of the way and sat in his vehicle until the officer arrived at the scene.

Upon further investigation, the officer became suspicious that Prado was not in fact a law enforcement officer. The officer asked Prado to clarify whether he was acting as a security guard or as a FPS agent in the incident, and Prado said he was simply attempting to detain Sawczak until officers could arrive to make an arrest.

The officer pressed further and Prado later said that he was not an FPS officer, but instead served as a reserve agent.

After noticing Prado became nervous, the officer then reexamined the alleged FPS security ID and found it did not meet the standards expected with a federal agency, adding it seemed like it was made at home or in a store. The officer noted the card was likely a security company license.

The officer also discovered that Prado and Sawczak were involved in another argument a day earlier. In that incident, Prado filed a police report in which he identified himself as a law enforcement officer.

Following the revelations, responding officers contacted the Department of Homeland Security, which verified Prado was not an employee of the federal agency.

Sawczak told the arresting officer he did want to press firearms aggravated assault charges against Prado.

The officer impounded Prado’s firearm, handcuff keys and phone, which allegedly had video recording of the previous incident.

 

NBC Miami

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