Hialeah Police said they arrested a man posing as one of their own on Saturday.
The real cops were tipped off by a private investigator who said Salvador Espinosa confronted him in the middle of filming near East 41st Street and East 6th Avenue, and demanded identification. The investigator knew he wasn't the real deal and alerted police, Hialeah Police spokesman Carl Zogby said.
The 68-year-old is being charged with impersonating a police officer. It was not immediately known whether Espinosa has an attorney.
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No one answered the door at Espinosa's Hialeah home Sunday afternoon, where NBC 6 spotted a car with a siren and antenna that resembled an unmarked police cruiser parked on the driveway. Hialeah Police have not said whether Espinosa used a car or carried a fake badge or uniform.
A neighbor at the nearby Sedano's Supermarket on 4th Avenue recalled seeing a man that looked like Espinosa in the parking lot a few days ago. He has a car that looks like a police car, the neighbor said in Spanish.
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Police said Espinosa doesn't speak English, which raised a red flag to the private investigator, who doesn't speak Spanish.
Espinosa was released from custody after posting $5,000 bond, online jail records showed.
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Photo Credit: Miami-Dade Corrections