Man arrested for impersonating officer in Grapevine

GRAPEVINE, Texas - A fake police officer who tried to pull over a woman in Grapevine over the summer is now behind bars, police said.

Raimond Jett Nutz, 24, was arrested earlier this month in Crowley and charged with one count of impersonating a public servant.

Grapevine police said Nutz was working a security guard job at the time he stopped a woman on State Highway 26 as she was leaving a Whataburger in June. He was in an unmarked white Ford Crown Victoria with a flashing red and blue light on the dashboard.

The arrest warrant affidavit says Nutz told the woman she was going 5 miles over the speed limit and could pay a $20 fine now or just give him whatever she had in her wallet. The affidavit states he also tried to stroke her forearm with his hand. The woman drove away without paying.

"When she drove off, he did not continue to follow her,” said Grapevine Police Officer Amanda Mcnew.

The woman told police the man had a baggy uniform with no badge or a name tag and no gun. The suspect's company car was traced back to a Dallas security company.

"They did in fact have a man who was working that night in our area,” McNew said. “And it turned out to be the suspect."

The woman called the real Grapevine Police Department to report what happened. She later identified Nutz in a photo lineup. The charge is a third degree felony.

"You need to be able to trust the people who are there to protect you,” McNew said. “There are what we tell our kids ‘tricky people.’ There are people who may impersonate an officer, and that is a very serious crime."

Nutz was identified through surveillance video, witnesses and ultimately by the security company he worked for at a local business.

Grapevine police say the red and blue lights on the dash were not authorized by the security company.

Nutz declined to comment on the advice of his attorney. Police say he has been fired from his security job, but it wasn't over the charge he faces now.

Nutz was booked into the Tarrant County jail and later released on a $2,500 bond.