EX-COP ARRESTED
Ammo, BB gun & strange tale at U.S. Capitol
A retired NYPD officer was arrested Friday at the U.S. Capitol with a fake badge, a BB gun, body armor, high-capacity magazines and other ammunition, authorities said.
The arrest at the same site as the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection happened at about 5 a.m. when a U.S. Capitol Police patrol officer started talking to a man who had parked his 2017 Dodge Challenger near Peace Circle, on the West side of the Capitol building, officials said.
Jerome Felipe, who retired from the NYPD in 2018, flashed a fake badge that said “Department of the INTERPOL” and made a false statement that he was a criminal investigator with the agency, according to the U.S. Capitol Police.
Felipe insisted in an interview with the Daily News that the bizarre incident was a misunderstanding and that he shouldn’t have been slapped with “bull----” charges of unlawful possession of high-capacity magazines and unregistered ammo.
“So they asked me if they could search the vehicle, I said ‘Of course, you can search the vehicle. I have nothing to hide,’ ” Felipe, 53, said.
“Then they said, ‘Put him under arrest, he’s got ammunition in the car.’ So what I got ammunition in the car? You can’t do nothing with it. What am I going to do? Throw it at somebody?”
Authorities said Felipe, 53, now lives in Flint, Mich.
The Capitol police said they found the BB gun, two ballistic vests, several high-capacity magazines and other ammunition in the blue Challenger. No real guns were found, officials said.
Investigators said they were still working to determine why Felipe parked near the
U.S. Capitol.
The former cop told The News he was simply driving from the Bronx to North Carolina after his grandmother’s funeral when he made a pit stop in the nation’s capital.
“I have nothing to hide,” Felipe said. “I’m a retired NYPD officer and a former U.S. Marine and I’m 53. If I haven’t done nothing crazy up to now, why would you think I would try it now?”
Felipe said he does professional training on weapons safety and uses the ammunition as part of his demonstration. He claimed he was just trying to be friendly and get a picture in front of the Capitol with fellow law enforcement officers, who took him in.
“I approached them and said, ‘Good morning,’” Felipe said. “I was being a brother, I’m retired law enforcement. I’m pro-law enforcement.”
He said he showed the cops an official card indicating he is retired from
the NYPD. He claimed he bought the Interpol badge on the Internet because it looks official.
“I said that I use it for my business,” Felipe said. “I was tired, I was exhausted. It was 5:30 in the morning. They said that I said that I was a special agent.’
Felipe also claimed he was on his way to Grover, N.C., where he claimed he was going to receive a medal from the Presidential Service Center, an organization of mostly former White House, Air Force One and other presidential staff.
Martin Mongiello, an executive at the service center, said there was no award. He said Felipe had called him twice over the last six months expressing interest in the group, but never submitted an application and is not a current member.
“We view it as an outright lie and a fraud,” Mongiello said. “He’s not going to receive any award from us and has never been scheduled to.”
An NYPD spokesman confirmed
Felipe was a member of the department.
“The individual retired in 2018,” the spokesman said. “We are fully cooperating with the U.S. Capitol Police investigation.”
Felipe was released on his own recognizance.
Felipe believed he was targeted because Capitol police there are still on edge over the Jan. 6 riot.
“Because of Jan. 6, 2021, they think because I have high-capacity rounds in the car that I’m going to do something?” Felipe said “There were no weapons there.”
Felipe said he was not at the Capitol during the uprising.
His ammunition and other materials were confiscated.
“These were their exact words: Because of everything that is happening and everything that’s going on, that they have to do their job,” he said. “Now I understand that, but you’re telling me that you can’t use some common sense?”