YOUNGSTOWN Impersonation trial continues for 'constable'

A state official said the defendant is not a peace officer.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Anthony P. Taylor is not a cop, but a jury must decide if he looked enough like one to break the law.
Trial resumed today in municipal court for Taylor, 41, of Hudson Avenue, who is charged with impersonating a police officer. Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly said the jury would hear closing arguments then receive instructions before beginning deliberations.
The five-man, four-woman jury heard testimony Tuesday afternoon from Patrolman Frank Rutherford, who confiscated Taylor's constable badge, hat and identification, and John R. Martin of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission. Through laborious, technical testimony, Martin said he has no record of Taylor's being a peace officer.
Martin, who traveled here from Columbus, said police must be appointed by an eligible authority and complete training -- typically a 550-hour course -- before they can make arrests, issue citations and carry a gun.
Taylor is employed by Ohio State Police Constable Service on Logan Avenue, operated by La-Roi Dock. Dock contends his incorporation with the state gives his employees police powers. Martin rejected that assertion.
Appearance
Constables have no jurisdiction in the city, Rutherford said during his testimony. Taylor's appearance gave the impression that he was a police officer, he said, displaying Taylor's badge, which he called nearly identical to his own. Not too many people ask to see a badge up close, he added.
Taylor's Struthers lawyer, James E. Lanzo, argued that his client was not impersonating a police officer but merely guarding a bar parking lot. Lanzo likened it to off-duty cops who work side jobs providing security at weddings.
Police cited Taylor July 13, after seeing him in his constable gear at the Classique bar on South Avenue. Also cited that night for impersonating a peace officer was Curtis M. Bryant Jr., another Ohio State Police Constable Service employee.
Bryant, who uses the title lieutenant, testified for the defense on Tuesday. "We are police officers," and Dock is the appointing authority, he said.
Dana C. Guarnieri, assistant prosecutor, asked if any employees had peace officer training. Some do, some don't; it's not required, Bryant said.
Guarnieri wondered if he had a peace officer certificate or a "green card," which would qualify him as a security guard with the state. He didn't.
Bryant's trial
Bryant owes his own freedom to subsection "C" of the Ohio Revised Code, which states that no person, by impersonating a peace officer or a private police officer, shall arrest or detain any person, search any person, or search the property of any person.
After a bench trial in August, Judge Kobly found Bryant, 58, of St. Louis Avenue innocent of violating that section of the code.
"The evidence clearly -- again -- establishes that you are impersonating a police officer and you are not a police officer," the judge said. "If charged under subsection B, I would have found you guilty."
The judge's "again" reference was to Bryant's conviction in September 2001 on a charge of performing security services without a license. Judge Kobly placed him on one year's nonreporting probation. The case is under appeal.
Subsection B states that no person shall impersonate a peace officer or a private police officer.
Evidence at trial showed only that Bryant, dressed in a constable uniform and wearing a gun, was standing in the bar parking lot providing security when arrested July 13. His overall appearance was that of a police officer, according to testimony.
meade@vindy.com