Man may serve jail time for incident
A Smithfield man accused of using a fake badge to try and get a Connellsville police officer to cut him a break waived the charges filed against him to Fayette County Court on Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Ronald Haggerty Sr. Harry E. Parker, 25, of 312 Smithfield-Masontown Road will serve jail time under the plea bargain. The length of the jail term will be decided once officials determine if he has a prior record that involved time served in a state prison.
Connellsville police officer Autumn Fike stopped Parker at 8th Street and Crawford Avenue after she saw him driving a car with an expired registration sticker. When she called the information in to verify the plates on the car, Fike also found that the license plate was not for the Nissan Parker was driving, but for a Honda.
As she approached him, Fike alleged that Parker held a badge out the window for her to see. The badge indicated he was a South Union Township police officer. Fike noted in a criminal complaint following the Sept. 11 incident that South Union Township Police Department has been inactive for years. However, the township does have code enforcement officers.
Parker reportedly told Fike that he “was hired by the South Union Township supervisors to do security at Wal-Mart to keep the black people from taking TVs.”
Fike alleged Parker also displayed a state Department of Corrections (DOC) badge, hoping that he would “get a break” because he showed that badge to police in Uniontown and they let him go. Although Parker claimed he was employed with the DOC, Fike indicated in a complaint that his identification card appeared to be an inmate ID card that was altered.
Parker is charged with impersonating an officer, driving an unregistered vehicle, unauthorized use or transfer of registration, driving without a license, driving with a suspended or revoked license, driving an uninsured vehicle and operating a vehicle without a certification of inspection.