TRENTON – A Tinton Falls man has been charged with impersonating a Drug Enforcement Agent and possessing a gun as a convicted felon.
Wesley Rucker, 34, was charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of impersonating a federal agent, and one count of possession of an imitation badge.
According to police, he sought treatment in the emergency room of a Red Bank hospital. Hospital personnel noticed that he had a handgun in his waistband. Rucker told hospital security personnel that he was a member of law enforcement and displayed a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) identification.
Hospital security ordered him to store his handgun in a locker in the hospital’s security office. Hospital personnel contacted the Red Bank Police Department after becoming suspicions of Rucker’s claim to be a DEA agent.
Responding officers confronted Rucker, and he told them that he was a “DEA agent.” Rucker displayed the same DEA identification to the officers. As the officers were investigating Rucker’s claims, Rucker attempted to leave the hospital without his handgun.
Rucker was taken into custody. Officers seized his weapon, the fake identification along with a fake DEA badge that he had not used. Officers learned that Rucker was a previously convicted felon who had no prior affiliation with the DEA.
The felon in possession of a firearm charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The impersonation of a federal agent charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The possession of an imitation badge charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, and a fine of up to $5,000.
Police credited special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Newark Field Division, Trenton Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey L. Matthews; officers of the Red Bank Police Department, under the direction of Chief Darren McConnell; members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey; special agents of the DEA, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson; and officers of the Old Bridge Police Department, under Acting Chief Joseph P. Mandola Jr., with the investigation leading to the charges.
