The 18-year-old was charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer, police said.
A New Mexico teenager was arrested after he allegedly made a traffic stop while posing as a sheriff's deputy, police said.
Brenden Wysynski, 18, was seen standing outside a vehicle about 12:30 a.m. by an Albuquerque Police Department officer out on patrol, authorities said. The teen was in plainclothes and carried no equipment except for a badge pinned to his belt, police said.
Wysynski's SUV had red and blue flashing lights and a police radio, but no law enforcement markings, authorities said.
The officer's bodycam footage shows the teen telling the cop he worked for the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office and had pulled over the driver because he was speeding at 120 mph. On the video, the officer asks Wysnski for identification. "This is all I got," the teen says, pointing to the metal star on his belt.
Wysynski said he "was under-equipped" and was on his way to "pick up my crap" when he saw the speeding motorist, according to the video.
The officer asked Wysynski to sit in the pack of the cruiser while he called for backup. "I'm just going to be straight up with you," Wysynski says in the footage."I'm not a cop."
Initially, he tells the officer he bought the badge online, the video shows. Later, he says it belonged to his father, who is dead. Told he was being arrested, Wysynski begins to cry.
He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is expected to start in a few weeks.
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