Man with neck tattoo, BB gun, plastic badge arrested for impersonating officer

Pueblo police say a 55-year-old man armed with a pellet gun and a plastic badge was pretending to be a police officer when he tried stopping a driver outside of a convenience store early Monday morning.

It happened at the Loaf ‘N Jug at 905 W. Highway 50, where a man reported to police that two men approached his window and said they were police officers. The two men said they pulled the driver over because “they suspected that he was under the influence of narcotics.”

The driver didn’t believe they were actual police officers, so he kept walking into the convenience store. One of the men, later identified as Robert Nemeth, had a holstered handgun and told the driver that he didn’t give him permission to leave his vehicle.

According to a report by Pueblo police, the driver kept walking into the convenience store anyway and reported the incident to the clerk. When he left, Nemeth reportedly said “tonight is your lucky night, I’m going to let you leave.”

Nemeth walked back to a black pickup truck and tried to drive away, but it stalled out in the parking lot, police say. Officers arrived and later found Nemeth with a rifle, a black pellet gun, and a plastic badge that read “Police Officer,” according to a police report.​​​

PPD says Nemeth later admitted that he was pretending to be a police officer. He was booked into the Pueblo County Detention Center on charges of impersonating a peace officer, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

The other man hasn’t been identified, and charges are pending review by the Pueblo County District Attorney’s Office.