Thomas has since been charged with 43 offences including personating a police office, extortion and theft. “The males would then proceed to seize valuables such as wallets, cash and credit cards”.
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The males would represent themselves as undercover officers and indicate that they are involved in an investigation and or advise the victim that they are a potential suspect. No charges have been laid in the Brandon cases to date.
A second male suspect, Matthew Adam BARTEL, 34 years old is now wanted by police.
One police impersonator is behind bars, but the Winnipeg police need your help finding the other.
Winnipeg police warned the public Thursday that undercover officers have to carry a badge and warrant card to identify themselves.
The two callers indicated the men they were stopped by were 35 to 40 years old, larger in stature with a heavy build.
Brandon police are asking anyone in the city who may have been stopped by the two men on Sunday night to contact them.
Police say anyone skeptical, whether it be for fundraising campaigns, meter readers, public surveys, or law enforcement, should confirm credentials and identification.
Official police vehicles will have a combination of red and blue coloured flashing lights. Flashing white lights may also be mounted within the front grill.
“If I’m in plain-clothes and I’m arresting somebody, I want to identify that I’m a police officer”.
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“I don’t want to get into the details of exactly why they were trying to do that, whether it’s a bit of a joke or they think it’s amusing or it was part of something larger, but this happens regularly across the country”, he said.
