Fired Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy arrested for impersonating police and working security without a license
New Orleans LA Aug 22 2019
An Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy who was fired three months ago was arrested for still sporting his law enforcement gear while working a private security detail at a Kenner nightclub, according to authorities.
A second sheriff’s deputy is also under investigation for working unsanctioned details and carrying an assault rifle inside the same club, LVLZ Hookah Bar on Loyola Drive.
Isiah Johnson, 25, of Avondale, was booked Friday with impersonating a peace officer and possession of stolen property, said Lt. Michael Cunningham, a spokesman for the Kenner Police Department.
Johnson was terminated by OPSO on May 17 after “he fired a gun into a crowd of people while working an unauthorized security detail,” according to the Kenner arrest report. No one was injured in that unrelated incident.
Even so, Johnson was found working a private detail in his bulletproof vest with an OPSO badge on the front and the word “SHERIFF” across the back.
He was also armed with a pistol and had his Sheriff’s Office identification card and handcuffs. Those items should have been turned in upon his firing, Cunningham said.
State and local authorities happened upon Johnson while investigating Vincent White, an OPSO deputy who was suspected of working unauthorized details at LVLZ, police said.
White was also seen carrying an assault rifle inside the business, a possible violation of state law, according to Cunningham.
The Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday that the department’s Investigative Services Bureau is looking into the matter.
Kenner police were already familiar with LVLZ before investigators began scrutinizing the bar’s security setup. The department regularly responded to disturbances and nuisance complaints there, Cunningham said.
On Aug. 11, Kenner police went to the club after receiving complaints that a man, later identified as White, was seen carrying a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 Sport assault rifle and a handgun on his belt, according to Cunningham.
“He also had his personal vehicle parked in front of the business, a 2009 Chevy Tahoe, with blinking blue strobe lights turned on,” Cunningham said.
White identified himself as an OPSO deputy and told officers he was working private security for the bar’s manager, according to authorities. The officers took a report that night but decided to do more digging before taking action, Cunningham said.
Investigators reached out to the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners, the agency that regulates the private security industry.
The Security Examiners Board and Kenner police teamed up to check the credentials of the LVLZ security team on Friday night. That’s when they spotted Johnson in his Sheriff’s Office gear, Cunningham said.
Johnson initially identified himself as a deputy, then admitted he was suspended before finally revealing that he’d been fired from the agency, officials said.
While it’s a crime to impersonate an officer, Kenner police said, the Security Examiners Board and the Sheriff’s Office are still investigating other possible policy and legal breaches.
Law enforcement officers can’t just cross into other jurisdictions and hire themselves out as private security, said the board’s executive director, Fabian Blache III, who explained that deputies are authorized through commissions at the parish level.
Exceptions, like Jefferson Parish deputies working Saints football games, require authorization on both ends.
In the case of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, deputies need approval from their direct supervisor and the Inspections Division to work any security details. White had neither, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
No one answered the phone at LVLZ on Tuesday. The bar’s owner will receive a notice to stop using uncertified security and a possible $500 fine, according to Blache.
