Monday, Jun. 13, 2011

By Deanna Boyd

dboyd@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- A 21-year-old man was arrested Sunday, accused of posing as a law enforcement officer to question people late Saturday night.

Estaban Galan remained in the Mansfield Jail on Monday, facing a third-degree felony charge of impersonating a public servant. Bail was set at $7,500, but Galvan was also being held on an immigration hold, jail records show.

Galan was arrested shortly after midnight Sunday, not long after a woman flagged down officers and reported that a man had approached her at a bus stop in the 3200 block of East Lancaster Avenue and asked what she was doing.

The woman told officers that when she told the man to leave her alone, he displayed a badge around his neck, gave her his badge number and said he was an FBI agent.

"He demanded her name so he could run her for warrants," said Sgt. Pedro Criado, a police spokesman.

When she refused, the man pretended to call for additional units, telling the woman that she was going to jail, Criado said.

But the man soon left and walked to a nearby motel, Criado said.

There, the motel's owner and manager would later tell investigators, the man again displayed his badge, identified himself as a police officer and began asking about prostitution in the area.

Criado said that when Galan noticed the real police in the area, he walked toward a gas station but was detained by officers. They observed a badge emblazoned with "Special Police" around his neck.

Criado said Galan is also a suspect in a May 24 incident in which a man wearing a police badge entered the A-1 Market at 3417 Horne St. and asked the owner about a woman.

Because the man wore no other police accessories and did not have a gun, the store owner was skeptical.

"He basically challenged the guy about the validity of him being a Fort Worth police officer," Criado said. "At that time, the guy just exited the store and left in his vehicle."

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