'Kid Cop' Pleads Not Guilty To Weapons Charge

CHICAGO (STMW) -- A South Side teenager who made national headlines for impersonating a Chicago Police officer and patrolling the streets as a 14-year-old pleaded not guilty Wednesday in his latest arrest involving a weapons charge.

Vincent Richardson was only a minor when he sauntered into the Grand Crossing District station in uniform more than two years ago, duping cops in an embarrassing stunt that led to disciplinary action within the department.

But the troubled teen, now 17, has been charged as an adult for his May 10 arrest for felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

On Wednesday, Richardson pleaded not guilty and a status hearing was set for Friday, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.

Richardson admitted to police that the semi automatic handgun discovered in the vicinity of the 5600 block of South Throop was his after officers performed a "protective pat down'' and found a magazine loaded with ammunition, police said.

Richardson is being held in Cook County Jail on $50,000 bond.
 
Just months after his January 2009 cop impersonating stunt, the teen charlatan masqueraded as a businessman and swiped a used Lexus from a South Side dealership.

Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Berman sentenced Richardson to three years' probation in July 2009 for possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He was also ordered to undergo therapy and a month of home confinement.

Richardson also pleaded guilty to false impersonation of a police officer but did not face additional punishment.

However, it was only a matter of time before Richardson was before Berman again for violating terms of home confinement by lying to probation officers and Berman.

"I've given [him] chance after chance after chance," Berman said before sentencing Richardson to nearly three months in jail in September 2009.

Then in March of last year, Richardson was sentenced to juvenile prison for pushing his mother and stealing his uncle's car while the older man watched television.

At the time, officials with the State's Attorney's Juvenile Justice Bureau said Richardson could be held in a state facility for juveniles until he's 21 or could be released earlier for good behavior.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)