Manitoba

Brandon man charged with impersonating police officer

A Brandon man is charged with impersonating a peace officer, after police say he posed as an officer from Winnipeg while asking two businesses for surveillance video in an effort to gain information about an ex-girlfriend.

Police allege he was attempting to get information about an ex-girlfriend

A close up of a Brandon Police Service car.
Brandon police accuse a man in the city of impersonating a Winnipeg police officer in an attempt to get information about an ex-girlfriend. (Riley Laychuk/CBC)

Brandon police have charged a 31-year-old with personating a peace officer, criminal harassment and failure to comply with a release order. 

The man, who is from Brandon, is accused of telling two businesses in the southwestern Manitoba city earlier this week that he was a Winnipeg police officer looking for surveillance video.

Police received a report on Monday that a man went to a business on Victoria Avenue east of 34th Street and asked for the video after repeatedly calling with the same request, the Brandon Police Service said in a news release Wednesday.

The man went to another Victoria Avenue business on May 9, this time near 26th Street, once again claiming to be a police officer from Winnipeg and asking for surveillance video. 

One of the businesses contacted was a hotel and the other was a gas station, public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said.

On Tuesday, police arrested a suspect. They believe he was looking for information about an ex-girlfriend he had been trying to get in touch with daily, despite having a no-contact order, the news release said.

The man was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.