COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Bridgeport man donning an Indiana "police supporter" T-shirt was busted this weekend for trying to impersonate a Chicago Police officer in McKinley Park, prosecutors said.
It's the third time in four years Hong Chu, 47, was picked up for the same offense. He is currently on probation for impersonating a cop inside a restaurant in 2015.
According to police, Chu stopped a man parking his car in the 3400 block of South Bell Avenue about 6:45 p.m. Sunday and asked, "Do you know who I am?"
When the man said, "No," Chu opened his jacket to reveal a black "police supporter" T-shirt honoring a K-9 unit in suburban Griffith, Ind., court records show. Chu wore a generic badge and carried a pair of handcuffs on his belt.
"I'm a cop! Better listen to me," Chu replied before eventually getting in his own car and driving away, according to an arrest report.
The 32-year-old man Chu had stopped was able to snap several cellphone photos of Chu, prosecutors said. He was arrested about 8:15 p.m. Sunday in the 3300 block of South Oakley Avenue.
Chu, of the 3100 block of South Throop Street in Bridgeport, is charged with impersonating a peace officer.
Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Monday ordered Chu held in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Chu was previously convicted of impersonating Chicago Police officers in 2013 and 2015, court records show.
In the 2013 case, he wore a polo shirt with a shamrock framed by the Chicago Police star while pretending to be an officer at a Chinatown restaurant. Chu was sentenced to one year of probation.
He was convicted again in 2015, also for impersonating an officer at a restaurant, and sentenced to six months in county jail followed by 24 months probation, court records show.
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