DETROIT (WJBK) - He looked like a cop, but this was no hero.
Parents were unnerved when they learned a man posing as a police officer Thursday morning tried to rob 2 Day's Child Learning Center, which is on Meyers Road just south of Fenkell Avenue.
Police say the man was armed and wearing a duty belt, bulletproof vest and sheriff's department hat when he walked into the center demanding money. Workers refused and the imposter left without putting up a fight.
The description police gave is of a black man in his late 40s or early 50s with four gold teeth on the bottom row. He was seen driving off in a green 2003 Ford Explorer.
"I am glad they did do what they were supposed to do the right way, calling the cops and everything," says Juanita Paudlo. "It could have went a complete different way."
"I am definitely concerned," says Antoine Barnes. His daughter attends the day care. He says the day care is very thorough, making parents sign in and out and sometimes show ID if they're not familiar with you.
"I know they had a few problems over here before, a break-in and stuff like that, you know, people stripping the schools. But nothing of nobody impersonating anyone," Barnes adds.
There have been a number of police impostures getting over on people in metro Detroit. A con man approached a pair of kids shooting hoops in Pontiac in February. Four armed men dressed as cops broke into a home in southwest Detroit and left with cash, a coin collection, a TV and a videogame console back in November. The same thing happened to a house on the east side in August.
"If you encounter someone who claims to be a police officer, even in full uniform like myself, you have an absolute right to ask for ID," says Detroit police Capt. Nick Kyriacou. "Most of our officers that work in a plain clothes capacity have what we call a modified uniform. You see them in the green pants and the black shirt. They will have their badge around their neck or fixed to their belt. Again, if you are not sure they are really the police ask them for their Detroit Police Department ID card and they are obligated by policy and common sense to produce that."
The captain says it applies to law enforcement agencies across the board whether it is city police department, a county sheriff, or federal agency like the FBI or DEA.
If you have seen the car and someone matching the description, or know anything about this incident, you're asked to call the Detroit police at (313) 596-5200.