Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PAWTUCKET -- The police arrested a Pawtucket man Saturday after he allegedly passed himself off as an off-duty policeman and made three teenage boys empty their pockets and patted them down to find a stolen GPS system.

Brian Rocha, of 12 Unity St., was charged with one count of impersonating a police officer and two counts of simple assault for the unlawful pat downs, according to the police. He was arraigned Saturday by a bail commissioner at the Pawtucket Police Department and released on $1,000 personal recognizance, according to Detective Donti Rosciti.

The three boys were playing basketball on Pidge Street last Friday when a black jeep pulled up and a man who was with two others got out of the car and told them he was an off-duty Providence police officer, although he did not display a badge, according to Rosciti.

The boys said the man told them he had seen kids behind his apartment and someone had stolen his GPS system, according to the police. He told the boys, all 13 and from Samuel Slater Junior High School, to empty their pockets, and when two didn't do that to his satisfaction, he patted down the pants of one boy and the sleeves of another, Rosciti said.

 Tags  Pawtucket

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