A teenager with a history of impersonating police officers was arrested again in Cobb County early Monday after he knocked on someone’s door and said he was a federal agent.
This is the fifth time Samuel Mallard has pretended to be an officer, according to Channel 2 Action News. During the last incident July 4, a family said Mallard wore a Cobb County police vest, referred to himself as Sgt. Jackson and told them they couldn’t shoot off fireworks.
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They reported the incident to the actual police, leading to Mallard’s arrest.
Just after midnight Monday, Mallard knocked on a family’s door on Poplar Log Drive in Austell and identified himself as a U.S. marshal, according to an arrest warrant. Teenagers answered the door while their mother was in the shower, according to police.
When she went to the door to address the teen, he was getting into a Ford Ranger to drive away. She called 911 to report the odd incident, and an officer caught up with Mallard while he was still in the neighborhood.
“He had an air pistol with a Blackhawk holster,” Cobb police spokeswoman Officer Sarah O’Hara told Channel 2. “He had everything that would make him appear to somebody who wasn't in the job that he was a police officer or law enforcement.”
He was also wearing a vest that said “Marshall Fugitive From Justice” and a black T-shirt bearing the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office symbol, according to police.
Mallard was again arrested on a felony charge of impersonating a police officer, as well as a stop-sign violation. He was booked into the county jail early Monday and released on bond a few hours later.
O’Hara said detectives are working with the court system to find other avenues of rehabilitation for Mallard. While Mallard has so far not made any threats or posed a danger to society, police are eager to avoid any future run-ins with the teen.
“We are very aware that this is a recurring problem and the discipline that’s been carried out so far has not been effective,” she said.
O’Hara said the police department encourages anyone interested in law enforcement to pursue those interests appropriately— and legally.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Cobb County Crimes Against Persons Unit at 770-499-3945.
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