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Men in 'Chicago Police' Vests Charged With Impersonating Officers

By Erin Meyer | July 23, 2014 8:42am
 Wendell Laws, 37, and Leonard Stewart, 43, were charged with impersonating  police officers after a woman became suspicious of them in a South Side pawn shop.
Wendell Laws, 37, and Leonard Stewart, 43, were charged with impersonating  police officers after a woman became suspicious of them in a South Side pawn shop.
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Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Two men wearing black mesh vests with "Chicago Police" printed on the back were arrested in a South Side pawn shop and charged with impersonating police officers.

The men told authorities they were wearing the vests as costumes because they are in the movies and wear the gear while "on set," police said.

Wendell Laws, 37, and Leonard Stewart, 43, were arrested shortly before noon Monday at a pawn shop in the 4800 block of South Ashland Avenue, according to court records.

Wearing black nylon vests with the Chicago Police Department star on the front and the words "Chicago Police" on the back, the two men made a woman inside the pawn shop doubt their legitimacy, authorities said.

She walked out of the store and waved down a real officer, according to a police report.

Laws was found in the pawn shop wearing the police vest; Stewart was standing next to one on the floor, the report states. When confronted, the two men said they were not police and handed over their identification, police said.

"They also stated they are in movies and wear [the vests] when they are on set," the report states.

The men also claimed they work as security guards at the pawn shop, though the shop owner told police that neither man works for him, police said.

"He only knows them as customers of the store and did not know why they were wearing the vests," the report states.

Laws, of the 7300 block of South University Avenue, and Stewart, of the 7500 block of South Rhodes Avenue, both were charged with impersonation of a peace officer.

A Cook County judge ordered both men held on bond Tuesday, but their bond amounts were not immediately available.