Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Newest copycat crime in Las Vegas? Impersonating a cop

Latest arrest – the third in a month – unraveled by Stratosphere security

Police impersonator suspects

Metro Police and Henderson Police

Police in the Las Vegas Valley have arrested these three men, all on counts of impersonating a police officer, since Jan. 30, 2014. The three are, from left, Mark PIcozzi, 48; Lawrence DiVitro, 44; and Robbie English, 31.

Updated Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 | 1:23 p.m.

His first mistake was impersonating a detective.

His second mistake was mixing up his fake names.

Metro Police determined “Detective Wolf” and “Detective Wilson” were, in fact, one man — 31-year-old Robbie English of Las Vegas — who has no law enforcement affiliation.

Metro officers arrested English on Tuesday in connection with impersonating a public officer and booked him into the Clark County Detention Center, according to an arrest report released today. He has since posted bail.

The Clark County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case and has not yet filed formal charges, an official said.

English came onto police radar Feb. 12 when he met with security personnel at the Stratosphere, identified himself as “Detective Wolf with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department” and asked them to evict three females staying at the hotel, the report states.

English told security members the females were prostitutes who had evaded law enforcement the previous night during a sting operation. When security personnel asked him for identification, this was his response:

“Umm, yeah.”

English then asked for their email addresses so he could send them photos of the females, the report states. Claiming he had to “prosecute a prostitution ring,” English gave security his cell phone number and left the casino.

A security supervisor from the Stratosphere called the number later, and English answered but identified himself as “Detective Wilson,” according to the report.

Metro officers determined English’s real identity through vehicle registration records; Stratosphere surveillance video captured him and the vehicle he drove onto the casino property.

When police contacted English on Tuesday, he claimed he was a limo driver and was looking for the females because they tried to solicit his customers for sex, the report states.

If prosecutors charge English, he would make his initial court appearance June 16.

The case marks at least the third arrest involving an alleged bogus cop within the last month in the Las Vegas Valley.

Last week, Henderson Police arrested Lawrence DiVetro, 44, who is accused of pretending to be a cop while trying to solicit sex from a message therapist.

On Jan. 30, Metro detectives arrested Mark Picozzi, 48, on counts of impersonating a police officer and sexual assault. Several days later, a second victim came forward.

Police say Picozzi — a convicted cop impersonator from New Jersey — threatened female escorts into having sex with him by posing as an undercover officer.

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