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Notorious 'Kid Cop' Again Charged With Impersonating Police Officer

(STMW) -- The one-time "kid cop"—who as a 14-year-old fooled Chicago Police into letting him patrol the streets for several hours—was back in court Thursday, facing charges he once again tried to impersonate an officer.

Before the hearing was over, Vincent Richardson—now 19, attending college and working as a security officer—was released from custody after Cook County Judge Laura Sullivan handed him a $25,000 individual recognizance bond, the Sun-Times is reporting.

This week, Richardson, of the 6300 block of South Marshfield, allegedly posed as an Englewood District police officer while trying to buy police clothing,which constitutes felony impersonation of an officer, authorities say.

Richardson walked into VCG Uniform in the 5000 block of West Irving on Tuesday afternoon and, when asked whether he was a cop, told the salesman he was an officer in Chicago's Englewood District and showed his driver's license, authorities said.

At the time, Richardson was dressed in a pair of dark blue cargo pants, which resembled what officers wear, and a white duty shirt, prosecutors said.

Richardson asked for a nylon duffel bag, cargo pants, blue duty shirt and duty belt, but abruptly exited through a back door before getting the items—or retrieving his ID, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Erin Antonetti said during the bond hearing.

A store employee looked Richardson's name up on the Internet and realized he was the same person who notoriously impersonated an officer when he was 14.

Richardson soon came back to the store to get his ID and was detained by police officers summoned to the store, Antonetti said.

Police found a receipt on Richardson from an online purchase he made the same day for a CPD bag and other police supplies, including a duty belt, Antonetti said.

A public defender told the judge Richardson lives with his mother, is employed as a security guard and attends college.

In 2009, he made national headlines when he sauntered into the Grand Crossing District station dressed in a regulation uniform, fooling officers into assigning him to traffic patrol for five hours. His true identity was discovered toward the end of the shift.

At the time of that incident, Richardson was in eighth grade. His mother, Victoria Brock, told the Sun-Times then: "Ever since he was 5 years old, he's wanted to be a police officer." She said mental health evaluations had shown that her son was healthy.

Months after that ordeal, Richardson dressed up as a businessman and pretended to take a test drive at a South Side car dealership before driving away with a Lexus.

In 2010, he was sentenced to juvenile prison for pushing his mother and stealing his uncle's car while the older man watched television.

 (Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

 

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