Fake Cop In Video Game Comedy Arrest Fiasco

In terms of “customer service situation that go awry” here is one that is pure comedy gold.

46-year-old Californian building code enforcement official, Steven Scott Sather, is currently in a whole big pot of bother for flashing his building code enforcement badge at a game store manager in an effort to impersonate a policemen.

Sather claimed to be a cop and also threatened to arrest a Target store manager who refused to refund his money for a defective copy of the rubbish game Cars.

As far as SPOnG is aware, consumer law in the US states that a consumer is always due a full refund should they receive a defective product. However, if you are a cop (pretend or real) you are still not allowed to arrest the store manager for selling you said defective product.

Local newspaper The Modesto Bee reports:

“A store security camera shows Sather at a customer service counter, flashing his badge for about one second as he spoke with a manager and another employee…. Store employees told police Sather identified himself as a police officer three times and insisted that they were breaking the law by not giving him a full refund for a defective product.”

According to the prosecution, Sather promised to return to the store in uniform, with handcuffs, to arrest the manager, who would offer only a replacement video or a game of equal value.

"I have never been charged with anything in my life beyond a speeding ticket," Sather said.

Sather is charged with impersonation of a public officer, a misdemeanour punishable by imprisonment for as long as six months in jail and fines of as much as $2,500. His attorney called it “a customer service situation that went awry.”

Sather is scheduled to return to court October 19 for further proceedings.

^{source: Gamepolitics via the Modesto Bee}