Official accused of impersonating police officer

PAWNEE — The Pawnee County emergency management director has been charged with impersonating a police officer at emergency calls, a charge he said is politically motivated.

Mark Randell, 44, is accused of responding to several emergency calls in the county between April 2015 and January 2018, in which he impersonated a police officer in a vehicle with lights, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation reported.

Randell said Thursday that the charge, a misdemeanor filed in Pawnee County, stems from long-standing disputes over policy decisions and other personal matters with Sheriff Mike Waters.

“I never made an arrest. I’ve never made a traffic stop. There is a lot of inaccurate information in the charge,” Randell said.

In January, Sheriff Mike Waters and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol requested the OSBI investigate the allegations.

Randell responded to several emergency calls for service, made a traffic stop, and made an arrest, “all while taking action and having an appearance that would lead a reasonable person to believe he was a police officer,” OSBI reported.

The charge — impersonating a police officer and arresting without authority — alleges Randell was caught on a Highway Patrol trooper’s dashboard camera walking around the scene of a one-vehicle accident on Cimarron Valley Road in eastern Pawnee County in April 2015. The video showed Randell with a gun and a badge visible, according to the charge all.

Randell allegedly told a trooper that the man in the car wreck had been combative and that Randell had handcuffed the man at the scene.

Randell said he has detained several people at scenes until other law officers arrived, but he never arrested anyone, or told anyone they were under arrest.

Randell said he has campaigned against Sheriff Waters in the past, and he thinks the charge is more personal than professional.

“That’s my opinion,” Randell said.

Randell, who remained the county emergency management director Thursday, said he plans to fight the charge.

“I have been the emergency management director for four years and have been the assistant chief for a rural volunteer fire department for more than 15 years,” he said.

“These charges are false and stem from a long personal dispute with the Pawnee County Sheriff Mike Waters and myself. I plan to turn myself in and will be facing these false accusations and will prove these charges hold no merit. My goal has always been to help the people of Pawnee County.”