With a quick flash of a badge, an Alabama man thought he would get out of a speeding ticket south of metro Atlanta, authorities said.
But the deputy who stopped the man noticed the federal air marshal badge the man displayed was just a trinket, according to Troup County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Stewart Smith.
Deputy Billy Baker pulled over a white BMW on I-85 near mile marker 46 just after 1 p.m. Wednesday. The deputy had clocked the BMW going 90 mph in a 70 mph zone.
“After stopping the vehicle and explaining the reason for the stop, the driver, identified as Jay Diamond of Phenix City, Ala., told Deputy Baker that he was a federal air marshal and he was holding a badge-shaped item in his hand,” Smith said.
Baker asked the man for additional credentials, and he told the deputy he had left them at home.
“After looking closer at the badge, Baker recognized it to be what appeared to be a collector’s item,” Smith said.
A few questions later, and Diamond reportedly admitted to the deputy he was not a federal agent. He was, however, a felon, according to authorities.
Diamond was arrested on charges of speeding, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and impersonating an officer. Troup County authorities have alerted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Smith said.
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