A Cheektowaga man has been arrested a second time for allegedly impersonating a Buffalo police officer. This time, Corey Shepard, 26, was arrested by Buffalo Police for an incident happening back in June.
Buffalo Police were alerted to this incident after Shepard was arrested two weeks ago by Cheektowaga Police for posing as an off-duty BPD officer during a traffic stop.
According to BPD District B Chief Joseph Gramaglia, Shepard was working as a security guard at a Walgreen's Pharmacy at 650 Delaware Avenue in the city. On June 4, Shepard detained a drug suspect in a car in the parking lot. He apparently called a city animal control officer's cell phone directly and identified himself as a BPD officer requesting assistance with the suspect's dog.
"We have no idea how he got that number," Gramaglia said.
Shepard also called Buffalo Police to respond to the incident, but never pretended to be a police officer during conversations with them, according to Gramaglia.
The BPD only became aware of Shepard's alleged impersonation when that city animal control officer reached out to the department recently, after seeing reports of Shepard's arrest following that traffic stop in Cheektowaga.
"It was the Cheektowaga incident that brought this incident to light," Gramaglia said.
Shepard turned himself into Buffalo Police Tuesday and was arraigned in Buffalo City Court on a misdemeanor charge of criminal impersonation. He's set to appear back in court on November 28.
