Man is charged with impersonating KC police officer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A suburban Blue Springs man has been charged with pretending to be a police officer and soliciting money he claimed was for an injured or dead colleague.

Justin E. Quimiro, 38, was charged Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court with five counts of false impersonation of a law enforcement officer and two counts of stealing by deceit. All seven counts are misdemeanors.

Court documents allege that on April 4, Quimiro went to four businesses along Kansas City's Independence Avenue, flashed a badge and said he was taking donations either for an injured officer or the family of a slain officer.

Prosecutors said Quimiro collected a total of $65 from two businesses. After he returned to one business where he had been given $50, the owner's husband noticed his badge was from a private security company and called police.

Quimiro has never been employed by police or the security company, prosecutors said.