ST. GEORGE, Utah
A former police officer who flashed an official identification card for leniency at traffic stops has been charged with impersonating an officer.
Utah Highway Patrol officers say Maxwell Tyler Houghton pulled out the ID card twice at different stops last week despite having left the St. George Police Department nearly two years ago.
Troopers caught up with Houghton a third time and arrested him.
UHP Sgt. Dan Ferguson said it's illegal for anyone other than a police officer to possess police credentials.
Houghton, 27, was booked Friday in jail on charges of speeding and two counts of impersonating a police officer. He was released the same day on $1,331 bail.
Houghton, before saying anything at the first traffic stop Monday, produced his expired police ID along with a driver's license and a concealed weapons permit.
Trooper Roger Larson let Houghton go, then called the St. George Police Department to learn the supposed officer had left the department in April 2007 after less than a year on duty.
Then, on Friday, Ferguson said he stopped Houghton for speeding, and once more, Houghton showed a police credential. Ferguson said he cut Houghton loose, but then recalled Larson's encounter earlier in the week with a man showing an expired police ID.
This time, Ferguson and Larson caught up with Houghton and arrested him on state Route 9.
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Information: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11545187
A former police officer who flashed an official identification card for leniency at traffic stops has been charged with impersonating an officer.
Utah Highway Patrol officers say Maxwell Tyler Houghton pulled out the ID card twice at different stops last week despite having left the St. George Police Department nearly two years ago.
Troopers caught up with Houghton a third time and arrested him.
UHP Sgt. Dan Ferguson said it's illegal for anyone other than a police officer to possess police credentials.
Houghton, 27, was booked Friday in jail on charges of speeding and two counts of impersonating a police officer. He was released the same day on $1,331 bail.
Houghton, before saying anything at the first traffic stop Monday, produced his expired police ID along with a driver's license and a concealed weapons permit.
Trooper Roger Larson let Houghton go, then called the St. George Police Department to learn the supposed officer had left the department in April 2007 after less than a year on duty.
Then, on Friday, Ferguson said he stopped Houghton for speeding, and once more, Houghton showed a police credential. Ferguson said he cut Houghton loose, but then recalled Larson's encounter earlier in the week with a man showing an expired police ID.
This time, Ferguson and Larson caught up with Houghton and arrested him on state Route 9.
--
Information: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11545187
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