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A man with a toy Revolutionary War-style flintlock pistol was arrested after he tried to pass himself off as a police officer at a Bronx train station, cops said Saturday.
Gilbert Melendez, 65, was standing outside the St. Lawrence Ave. No. 6 subway station near Westchester Ave. in Soundview about 1 p.m. Thursday when cops spotted a collapsible baton used by law enforcement hanging from his pants pocket.
When the officers stepped up to him and inquired about it, Melendez said he was a cop from “Washington City,” but had no credentials to prove that he was a police officer.
Cops searched Melendez, finding the fake flintlock pistol in a holster in his pocket. He also had three police shields — all fake.
“Don’t think the Bronx has seen a pistol like this since we fought the redcoats at Pell’s Point,” NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper tweeted Saturday, referring to the Oct. 1776 Bronx battle between the Continental Army and the British. “Nevertheless, this & an assortment of police ‘credentials’ & equipment is what Transit officers found on a man claiming to be a law enforcement official outside a Bronx subway station.”
Melendez was charged with weapons possession for the baton and for criminal impersonation.
He was released without bail following a brief arraignment at Bronx Criminal Court on Friday, according to court records.
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Thomas Tracy
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