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Ex-chief charged with impersonating a federal officer
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A former Craig Beach police chief was charged in federal court this week with one count of impersonating a federal law-enforcement officer.
The case against Jason Brown of Brookfield Avenue in Masury was bound over to a federal grand jury Monday, according to court records.
He is free on $20,000 bond.
The charges stem from an incident in Girard on Sunday when police were called to railroad tracks behind 1170 N. State St. and found Brown and two other men shooting guns.
Girard police Capt. John Norman told the men that there was a no-trespassing sign on the property and they were not allowed there, and also that discharging firearms in the city is prohibited by ordinance, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
The affidavit said Brown was wearing a shirt that had a U.S. marshals logo on it and the words “police” on each sleeve and Norman asked Brown if he was a police officer. Brown said he was a U.S. marshal, but Norman did not know him, the affidavit said. When Norman asked him why he was wearing the shirt, Brown told him he used to be the chief in Craig Beach but he no longer was an officer, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said when asked why he would wear the shirt even though he was no longer in law enforcement, Brown told Norman: “Once a marshal, always a marshal.”
When Norman told Brown and the other two they would be cited in Girard Municipal Court for trespassing and firing guns in the city limits, Brown became very upset and said, “I put my life on the line every day. What do you do?” according to the affidavit.
Norman forwarded information of his encounter to local marshals, who found that Brown has not had a certified police commission in Ohio since July 1, 2009. He was once a special deputy with the marshals, but that status was canceled when he no longer was working in Craig Beach, the affidavit said.
Girard Municipal Court records show that Brown has a court date set for Wednesday.