FORT GREENE — A man impersonating an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms stole nearly $400 in electronic cigarettes from a neighborhood convenience store, police and prosecutors said.
Steven Segarra, 52, walked into King Star Convenience at 15 Hanson Pl. at 1:40 p.m. on Jan. 22 and told a store employee that he was an ATF agent, officials said.
The faux fed, who was wearing a suit with an NYPD tie clip and lapel pin, then whipped out a badge and a pair of handcuffs to show the worker, officials said.
Surveillance video shows him come with a binder and a walkie-talkie before pacing the store as he appears to speak with someone on the phone.
Segarra later opened a door leading to the back of the store’s counter and told an employee to give him $2,000 or he would slap the shop with $5,000 in summonses and take away its vending license, according to manager Fahd Alfakih.
When another employee called Alfakih and told Segarra that the manager would come speak with him, the suspect grabbed the e-cigarettes worth $390 and took off, Alfakih explained.
Police were eventually able to identify Segarra using the surveillance footage, and they arrested him on Feb. 1, according to a police report and Alfakih.
The manager, who wasn't in the shop at the time of the incident, said he recognized Segarra as someone who had frequented the store a few times before.
“When he comes to the store, he gives me a hard time,” Alkafih said. “He asked me questions like, ‘Why is this this price?’”
He said the man tried to take advantage of the employee working there at the time because he is a recent immigrant and does not speak English well.
While Alkafih said he knows his rights, he is now wary of anyone who might be posing as an officer.
"I don't know who I can believe and who I can't believe," he said.
Police were ultimately unable to recover the stolen e-cigs, Alkafih added.
Segarra was charged with criminal impersonation, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal trespassing and unlawful use of police uniform, according to his criminal complaint.
He is being held on $5,000 bond and is next due back in court on Aug. 25.
Segarra is also being tried in a separate 2008 case in which he was charged with various crimes, including driving on an unauthorized road and being in a park unlawfully after hours, records show. No further details were available.
His attorney Matthew Corretto of the Legal Aid Society declined to comment, saying the most recent case is open and that Segarra has not yet taken a plea.
“We are working on resolving his case in his best interest,” the attorney said.
