on the 21st of January 2024 sometime around midnight Westerville police officers received a call from the Columbus Police Department about a man in a Ford SUV with flashing lights who had pulled over another vehicle this man turned out to be 43-year-old Brendan conin who was apparently with the Ohio fugitive apprehension program but certainly not a member of the Westerville police he claimed to have pulled over the other vehicle out of concern for the safety of other Road users because the aforementioned vehicle was driving slowly hey are you yeah disgard Federal appr I don't know that is I'm not familiar with it stop this car driving all over the road he's going to kill someone from your guys and stuff he like flagged us down and he came over here okay I don't know if that's real or not 34 I mean this is not going to be a fony stop I'm going to go to three with some more information okay can you copy a 12 break it's going to be out of Ohio it's Ocean Frank Adam Paul 39 might come back as the Ohio fut task force I'm not sure if this is enforement or how youing up okay thank you it's real 120 Marone so it's it's coming back to your guys' HQ okay so I I don't know we'll figure out what we got going here all right I called on them yeah that's no I I waved them down he was going to kill everybody on the road what's going on with dude he was going 11 on the road went in front of three other people I'm off duty right now I'm going home all I got all my gear in the back that you're show my credentials and everything yeah I we checked everything yeah what's up uh he was going to I mean real problem so I I just stopped him and I flagged the uh I saw the mark Columbus Police Officer I flaged him down I said you need a [ __ ] go talk to them right now that's it do you have a badge numberal okay what is it your badge number 7937 79 okay that's good just that way I can put the call he was just I I I flagged down the first mar car that I saw yeah I mean he was a real problem on the road see he's going 11 mil hour he was going 11 down here he tried to drive into two other cars the one person got a little bit Road ragy on him yeah and was following like real close and the one guy that was going to like I think going going to go fight so I just H the lights on him real quick and I waved the Columbus Police Officer over I said you need to get him right now pull him over he stopped right here in the middle of the intersection I gave him commands 11 times on my on my radio with the lights on turn right turn right turn right get off the road get off the road he didn't follow any instructions I wasn't getting I I got no gear on right now everything's in the back right I saw the Columbus officer right here I said hey wh around and then that's where we're at okay cool thanks a lot are we good yeah I appreciate it you guys seen him before yeah he's always over here I've never seen him before he's always calling in stuff about 48 and stuff like people from like about people out of there my dude what do you want us to do with it but he's he's like legit though yeah he is okay that's what we were trying to figure out we were like is this guy real I thought it was either you guys or then I was like oh was in security then I was like but he's no Ops I don't know how you going handle it that did make [ __ ] traffic stop he did had my car yeah I'm that's why I'm not pushing this yeah so you guys never dealt with him on second he us kind of popular I've seen the car but they were all lined up here like a felony stop I'm like what in the world I was like this has got to be Franklin County and then I didn't see any marks so I was like cuz he has a yellow letters up there like it's Franklin Cy on the front license PL yeah and me and Columbus were talking and like is this guy real it was clear that Conlin was well known in those parts for repeatedly impersonating the police and conducting unlawful stops so it was no surprise that later that day the police arrived at his doorstep with a warrant for his arrest hello um I was just going to speak with this gentleman here can you ask him if anybody in the car has a valid license to drive please uh no cend yeah cool hey Brandon hey what's going on hey you remember me from last night yeah I D what's going on so we had a couple more developments about that traffic stop can you come out and talk to me yeah yeah yeah let me get a socky shoes on actually you're under arrest right now why am I under arrest put your hands for unlawful detainment and impersonated a police officer I have done none of that you have the right to remain silent or what anything you say used against you Court of all you have the right to an attorney and have him or her present with you while you're being questioned you have the right not to answer any questions or make any statements until that time you understand I do uh you want to take her or him to my patrol vehicle it's the first one in line I'll talk to her real quick all right okay I'm officer with West last night about 15 after 12 there was a traffic stop made on South Cleveland Avenue in front of St ANS her husband initiated that traffic stop with red and blue lights and stopped a car and detained an individual he's not a licensed police officer in the state of Ohio and that is unlawful detainment and impersonating a police officer okay so he admitted that he made that traffic stop he had his red and blue lights activated and based on the evidence that we have right now he's not and never has been a police officer sir he can't do that so a warrant has been filed for his arrest yeah if you want to spr your feet for me you don't have anything on you that's going to hurt me [ __ ] me all right so I know I already advised your rights but it was while the arrest was taking place I want to make sure you understand them okay I do okay so first questions first do you have the original license plates that were issued by that car yes I do okay and where would they be in so because here's what we don't want to do those plates are fictitious okay they're not the original hop plates that came on it correct so that being said that vehicle is parked illegally without real license plates okay I i' I've talked to the state all of that is in process I I I think that there's a miscommunication here okay okay my intent is never to impersonate law enforcement I've never identified myself as such I am licensed with the state I am a fug Recovery Agent I every interaction I've had with anybody I've had all you guys involved asking for your assistance and I have uh registration with the Attorney General's office and working on the process with the state for the plates it was a safety issue on the plate just because of the nature of the job right it's the same reason that my drivers like license comes back to mcy right and it's a safety issue it's not to impersonate anybody it's to keep my family safe well what we want to do rather than impound the vehicle is if we can get those plates we can install them because those ones are going to be collected as evidence okay uh two once this is said and done that Emergency Equipment is going to have to come off of there okay so but again that's that's it's still on application with the AG's office okay well to get to the eat and potatoes and things okay of the cuz what you're being charged with is having fictitious plates on the car okay a limit of number of Lights required which covers the fact that there was red and blue lights that were activated okay unlawful detainment because an unlawful traffic stop was conducted I didn't I didn't he was already stopping sir I just let me explain I'll let you say your piece that way you have all the information okay an unlawful traffic stop was condu Ed an individual was retain was detained and their fourth amendment rights were violated like that's impersonating a police it wasn't the intention it it was public safety and it was to wave down a Columbus Police Officer which exactly what I did I never approached the individual I never got out of the car I never went to them never identified myself as anything I did it to wave down the police officer and had him go talk to them I did not detain anybody I used the lights to signal for them to come because they were going to do harm to other people on the car okay which I do have the videos along with that on how they on how they were driving okay and asking them to stop in the other cars that were waving me down mhm and so I got a mark nothing that I did was to overstep the boundaries of anything I understand our separation here but that person was going to hurt somebody okay and so I wanted to get you guys involved which I did right gave you my car you did I everything I thought was above board if there's an education here if I crossed I don't think that this needs to be an arrestable situation we can figure out a way that I can say okay did I misstep in this action but my int my intention here was not to do anything that you guys are saying it was public safety and it was to get you guys involved and I absolutely believe that you meant well but based on our conversation last night and the statements of the Columbus police officers there huh you told me that you activated your overhead lights stopped the car gave him 11 commands over the PA pull to the right you initiated I asked him to get off the roadway while the Columbus officer was coming he and the Columbus officer said you had him stopped huh the he wouldn't move he would just sto dead in the road he he was go he was going he was going eight mil an hour then 28 then 8 swerved a bunch of times came over uh almost hit another driver and then stopped right in front of me I got on the PA and said please you know I I told him I said move to the right move to the right he was just sitting in the middle of a green light and I saw the Columbus officer I I hit the lights and I waved him over and I said hey you know you got to get this guy right now you got to get him he goes hey who are you with I said I'm with Ohio fug of apprehension program that's exactly who we're a nonprofit state of Ohio right he goes okay cool do you have our your ID I showed it to him I showed it to you gave the card if if I didn't hit the lights I I I was afraid somebody was going to get hurt right I really was and we are under uh under review with the uh attorney general office the reason that our nonprofit was approved is because we're trying to get away from the way the wild wild west of bounty hunting and all that kind of stuff going after the1 ,000 open warrants and the 26,000 felony warrants that are out M right as our opportunity to to augment but not to replace and certainly not to impersonate yes sir I this is this is very upsetting because I really am trying to do the right thing in the best way and I feel like I was very transparent and very clear with everybody on who I am and what I'm doing you were the the same one that came out with the suicide call right I don't believe when we got the suicide call I met up with you guys at uh meter I'm not recalling that um now I mean I'm not saying it wasn't me I mean we have a pretty high call volume one second Shi um so we very well could have had an interaction just having having this as an arrestable thing she wants to drive into the W kill herself I really I'd really be hopeful that is an opportunity to be like listen you kind of [ __ ] up on this here here's how we address it and I can tell you it'll never happen again cuz we need to look at the intent right right there was no intent here to do what these charges dictate that I was doing I'm not you know what I mean so I guess my like my question is when when we were speaking mhm you know I asked you for your badge number you gave that to me yes sir and then I I said I I said so you're you're Federal I don't believe I no I think I called I didn't respond you didn't respond no I I I think I was said no I'm State and then the other guy was talking to me from the other side I'm absolutely not federal yeah it it you know we're under the influence or the impression at the time that I mean I even said to you oh you're Federal like you did you didn't respond you didn't correct me no no I I think he was coming out from the other side cuz that part of it was on the cuz I reviewed the footage when I got back and I heard you say that and then I I didn't respond and I'm like oh [ __ ] well that's why I said hey do you want my card right to make sure that there's no misunderstanding right yes should I made hey I'm State oh hey I'm part of so so the who our organization is a nationwide organization right but we're licensed through the state of Ohio technically are we Federal the group is but look I'm not saying I'm never I would never say I'm a federal agent or a Nationwide agent or anything like that my license is to the state of Ohio and I can show you all that license information I can give you all of my credentials you can look at everything if I [ __ ] up on this thing man we can look it won't happen again this is not what I not what I intended and certainly not to miss represent with you guys I live here you guys are my Westerville officers right right the last thing I'm going to do is tell you anything you know I've had a great relationship with the county sheriff's office which is normally who we get involved with everybody M everything we do is supposed to be above board that incident that one incident with that vehicle honestly they were going to hurt somebody sure and I got the first law enforcement agency that I saw involved I if if that was this serious I I won't you know listen educate me this is a new program this is a new thing that we're trying to do the right way this it shouldn't go this way now you know I I believed you meant well last night and I still do I believe you were trying to do the right thing however where there is a serious issue that took place I'm coming Northbound on Cleveland and I see two vehicles lit up red and blue I called out that I'm going to be out with a felony stop is what I believed it was okay okay I get out and I learn that this vehicle was stopped and I mean you told me that you stopped it you gave it commands all of this is fine except for the fact that the red and blue lights were used this person was stopped and their fourth amendment was put in Jeopardy by somebody who didn't have the authority to do it I I reacted and and while you may have meant well we have to pursue it I understand so you you've pursued it I I I hear you now to be clear nothing there are the the warrants were filed today so the arrest is a done deal however none of these charges are a felony it doesn't matter my job my this this was something that we just stood up my real job this this could destroy my livelihood on something that I I didn't destroy their livelihood and anything that they you know I believe that they were highly intoxicated I don't know how the rest of I didn't even hang around I said hey what's their deal I gave you the information but I truly believed that they were going to hurt somebody and I from my military if I have a means to react or to save or to whatever then I'll do that I didn't I didn't mean to obviously put you in that situation or make you feel anything that I that wasn't the implication and that's also why like I said I didn't stay there I didn't I didn't I didn't facilitate stuff I didn't get out with them not we're going in circles I I get it if we got to do this I I just I can't I can't believe that this is a thing CU I none of this the intention behind it has been of good and I just yeah and I I can change I look if it's if it's a learning opportunity or if there's a a change in Behavior this is new we're all learning this stuff right what's next so what I would like to do with your permission is if you can tell me where those plates are we can have your wife get them we can like I said we're going to seize those ones but I would like to put the original plates on it so we don't have to tow it and cause you more inconvenience um is that something you'd be willing to do yeah um two questions and this isn't this mainly because the uh the shotguns in there and some other stuff right uh I don't is this is weird thing to ask being that I'm on the other side is this bondable on my coming home tonight or being that none of it is felony I don't that's something we'll have to you'll have to discuss well I just want to find out I get that I would assume it will be um and that'll all come to fruition once we get down there okay um will you allow me the opportunity to get my wallet yeah we can ask your wife to get it for okay so the keys should be hanging she knows where all the keys are uh the license plate I think the physical license plate is underneath the hard cover where all the computer access is on top of the tire if not in there all of the paperwork for the organization everything is in a green folder uh that is in the uh glove box and that's going to have all of our licenses and everything in there okay we'll talk with her real quick and uh your your key uh it's just a standard uh handcut key they'll take that shotgun off it's not loaded but if you want to put that in the in the uh garage there okay that way it's not hanging out okay you know what I mean yep all right are you warm enough no I'm all right you good you want to get the seat belt thank you hey and of course I love so we're going door over there lock it see I'm so used to having just I just kind of hold on it and eventually it likes to make a lot of noises but it doesn't actually open just lean on it when it opens you'll know there we go as much as Conlin tried to justify his actions they explained themselves as illegal judging from his past actions and the fact that his car was even more equipped than some police cruisers he seemed to be deep into his fantasy of being a police officer Conlin was charged with impersonating a police officer and unlawful restraint but was out on bail the last time an update was given on his case