Police: Man posed as cop in bar dispute

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

SUGAR HILL - Gwinnett police have lodged felony charges against a Suwanee man for falsely claiming he was an officer during a dispute over a bar tab, authorities said.

Michael John Daube, 34, is charged with impersonating an officer in an incident Saturday afternoon at a Sugar Hill restaurant and bar called The Derby.

Daube allegedly flashed an expired New York City Corrections Department badge when a bartender confronted him about a debit card that had come up missing. He later admitted to police he hasn't been employed with that agency for 18 months, according to a Gwinnett police report. He is not suspected in the alleged theft.

The bar's manager, a bartender and an off-duty Gwinnett police sergeant told police Daube became belligerent and cursed them when he was confronted about the missing card. When he left the business without signing his own tab receipt, a bartender confronted him in the parking lot and called police, the report says.

Daube denied claiming he was an active police officer, the report says. All three witnesses disputed those claims, and a responding officer took Daube into custody.

Daube posted $5,700 bond and was released from the Gwinnett County Jail the following day, records show. Officers scanned a copy of the expired badge and filed it as evidence, the report says.

In light of the arrest, Gwinnett police spokesman Officer Brian Kelly said the department "takes a zero tolerance stance" against anyone who falsely claims to be a member of law enforcement.

Gwinnett Daily Post