The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports that Fred Couch, “the father of so-called ‘affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch was arrested Tuesday morning, accused of impersonating a police officer during a disturbance call last month in North Richland Hills.” The Telegram went on to explain that Couch “repeatedly told North Richland Hills patrol officers that he was a reserve officer with the Lakeside Police Department and he displayed what appeared to be a police badge and ID, North Richland Hills police said Tuesday.” Investigators later determined that Couch was not a reserve officer with the Lakeside P.D. nor was he ever registered as a police officer in Texas.
WFAA reports that “According to a written statement, Frederick Anthony Couch identified himself as a reserve officer when police responded to the call during the early morning hours of July 28 in the 4400 block of Mackey Drive.”
Keith Bauman, with the North Richland Hills Police Department, elaborated during a Tuesday press conference:
“During the conversation he [Couch] had made a comment that he was a reserve officer for the city of Lakeside Police Department. They [police at the scene] said, ‘so you’re a Lakeside Police Department officer?’ He said, ‘yes,’ and reiterated that he was. He said he had his police stuff in his vehicle.”
According to CBS DFW, “Bauman said Couch showed the officers what appeared to be a badge and a police officer identification card.” CBS added that “Bauman said investigators also checked with the state to verify Couch was not a licensed police officer anywhere in the state of Texas.”
“When you have someone who is not an officer stating that they are, it can cause issues, it’s a concern.”
Couch was taken into custody shortly before 11 a.m. Tuesday in the course of a routine traffic stop and was booked into the North Richland Hills Detention Facility.
He was released later in the day after posting $2,500 bail.
As the Daily Mail reported last December, Couch has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests for, among other things, theft and evading arrest.
You can watch a news clip, below, from NBC-DFW:
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