EAST SIDE Bar security job leads to cop-posing charge
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Petersburg man wearing a constable uniform and sidearm inside an East Side bar has been charged with posing as a cop.
Richard J. Dzuray, 46, of East Garfield Road, was arraigned Monday in municipal court on charges of impersonating a police officer and possession of a firearm in a liquor establishment.
Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. set bond at $3,000 and told Dzuray to discontinue functioning as a police officer. Dzuray told the judge that he's been working less than 20 hours each week for $7 per hour.
Dana C. Guarnieri, an assistant city prosecutor, told the judge that Dzuray is not licensed as a security guard and constables do not have authority in the city. Dzuray will be back in court Aug. 29.
La-Roi Dock, who operates Ohio State Police Constable Service at 1355 Logan Ave., said Dzuray is employed by the company.
Dock said he's just a black man trying to run a business in the city and is once again under attack, maybe because of racism. He said the city, in past cases, hasn't proved that he can't have his private constables provide security.
What's been happening
Since 2000, several of Dock's employees have been convicted of impersonating police officers, according to Vindicator files. Dock said his private constable service is licensed by the state.
Dzuray was arrested at 12:04 a.m. Saturday at Judge Roy Bean's bar on Oak Street. Police said they saw him standing inside the door dressed in a black shirt with constable patches on the sleeves, a black vest with a police constable badge and a black duty belt with handcuffs and a loaded .45-caliber handgun in the holster.
Dzuray told police that he wasn't working as a constable but as a security guard, reports show. Police said he didn't have the required green card that identifies a licensed security guard.
Police took photos of Dzuray in his constable uniform and then later, after he was booked into the jail, seized the clothing, gun and duty belt.