Gunpal owner arrested for impersonating LE? NEW INFO

General General Discussion
1

Same guy? First article says 29 year old, and Wikipedia says gunpal started in 2004, meaning he was 23-24 when he started gunpal? Clearly not impossible.

http://fugitive.com/archives/18598

A Petaluma man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of impersonating a police officer after he allegedly pulled over a female driver near Sonoma, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said. The 22-year-old woman was driving on Napa Road around 11 p.m. Feb. 2 when she was pulled over by an unmarked vehicle with a red light, Lt. Chris Spallino said. A man not wearing a uniform then flashed what appeared to be a badge and asked her for identification, Spallino said. The woman became uncomfortable and asked the man to have a marked vehicle respond. The man then became uncomfortable and drove away and the woman called police, Spallino said. Detectives from the sheriff’s office’s violent crimes unit identified 29-year-old Benjamin Philip Cannon as a suspect. After the woman identified him as the man who pulled her over, Cannon was placed under surveillance, Spallino said.
Cannon was arrested Thursday at his residence in the 1100 block of East Sunnyslope Road for impersonating a police officer and false imprisonment, Spallino said. Detectives seized Cannon’s silver 2001 BMW and found a police scanner, strobe light, handcuffs and a siren inside, Spallino said. Cannon was booked into the Sonoma County jail and has since posted $10,000 bail.
Spallino said the woman’s request for a marked car may have deterred the suspect and prevented a more serious incident. He said motorists in a similar situation should consider acknowledging the police vehicle and pull over in a safe location. Anyone who may have has a similar encounter is asked to call detective James Naugle at (707) 565-2185.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GunPal

GunPal was founded in January 2004 by Benjamin Cannon as an Internet financial services company. For the next 5 years, Cannon built a team of engineers, lawyers, banks and other financial institutions to take on a niche in the online payments world, and GunPal launched November 3, 2009.

2

Petaluma is 32.9 miles away from Healdsburg (which is where wikipedia says GunPal was founded).

Seems plausible to me…

3

Ouch. What a dumbass.

Ben Cannon of Gunpal is also 29 years old (DOB Oct. 9, 1980).

4

Way too many people jumping on the “maybe it isn’t what it appears to be” bandwagon. If just 3 of 5 things that the media reported about this story is correct, the guy is a sociopath and needs to be behind bars. What kind of person carries that crap in their car? Either a criminal or a cop. I suspect he will no longer have 2A rights upon adjudication.

5

Maybe if he used an old police auction crown vic like other impersonators, he would have had better “luck.” Glad he didn’t though…

6

Benjamin Philip Cannon IS the founder of GunPal.

7

Games the police and media can play:

police scanner = ham radio
strobe = fancy flashlight or bicycle signaling light with blinking LEDs
siren = bullhorn/megaphone that has a siren button

I would invite you to look up the case of Matt Corwin, aka Blackwater OPS. The police demonstrated there that they can and do describe the unremarkable in the most sensationalist way possible - and eventually every charge against him was dropped. I suspect Cannon will be enjoying his 2A rights for many years to come. If necessary I’m prepared to eat crow on that statement; are you?

8

ETA:I saw the same comparison on Calguns.
You are absolutely correct, the games the media and legal system play are enough to scare even the toughest men on earth. I don’t know this guy from a can of paint. I do know that if the charges are false, he will be an even richer man. However if they prove to be true it is a blow for Gunpal and Calguns. I guess I should have explained my position better, I do not think he is guilty until proven so.

9

H’mmmm interesting. It surprises me that he didn’t buy a used crown vic to complete the disguise. I just wouldn’t believe a cop would pull me over in a unmarked BWM of all vehicles.

Oh well, glad to hear the woman didn’t get hurt.

10

Lets say that he had these:

police scanner = ham radio
strobe = fancy flashlight or bicycle signaling light with blinking LEDs
siren = bullhorn/megaphone that has a siren button

So the vehicle stops. He then makes contact with the driver, showing what appeared to be a badge, and asks for the drivers ID. Leaves after asking for a marked squad. Hmmm. Sounds like that will be hard to explain

11

He allegedly pulled over another vehicle. The flashing red light goes to his intent. It’s not like he waiver the woman down with his hand from a neighboring car to tell her she had a flat tire. Then, when she wants a marked car, after he shows what appeared to be a badge, he flees. His fleeing is an admission in many jurisdictions. People like this are dangerous and need to be taken off the street, IMO.

12

Making a traffic stop is not technically an arrest until/unless a ticket is written. The thing that will make or break this incident is probably whether or not he actually told the female he stopped that he is an officer. If he did, guilty. If he didn’t actually SAY he was an officer, but just tried to make her think he was by flashing a fake badge, he might be able to get away with it.

13

The impersonating charge is a misdemeanor:

(a) Any person other than one who by law is given the
authority of a peace officer, who willfully wears, exhibits, or uses
the authorized uniform, insignia, emblem, device, label, certificate,
card, or writing, of a peace officer, with the intent of
fraudulently impersonating a peace officer, or of fraudulently
inducing the belief that he or she is a peace officer, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(b) (1) Any person, other than the one who by law is given the
authority of a peace officer, who willfully wears, exhibits, or uses
the badge of a peace officer with the intent of fraudulently
impersonating a peace officer, or of fraudulently inducing the belief
that he or she is a peace officer, is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year,
by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both
that imprisonment and fine.
(2) Any person who willfully wears or uses any badge that falsely
purports to be authorized for the use of one who by law is given the
authority of a peace officer, or which so resembles the authorized
badge of a peace officer as would deceive any ordinary reasonable
person into believing that it is authorized for the use of one who by
law is given the authority of a peace officer, for the purpose of
fraudulently impersonating a peace officer, or of fraudulently
inducing the belief that he or she is a peace officer, is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to
exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars
($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
(c) Any person who willfully wears, exhibits, or uses, or who
willfully makes, sells, loans, gives, or transfers to another, any
badge, insignia, emblem, device, or any label, certificate, card, or
writing, which falsely purports to be authorized for the use of one
who by law is given the authority of a peace officer, or which so
resembles the authorized badge, insignia, emblem, device, label,
certificate, card, or writing of a peace officer as would deceive an
ordinary reasonable person into believing that it is authorized for
the use of one who by law is given the authority of a peace officer,
is guilty of a misdemeanor, except that any person who makes or sells
any badge under the circumstances described in this subdivision is
subject to a fine not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
(d) (1) Vendors of law enforcement uniforms shall verify that a
person purchasing a uniform identifying a law enforcement agency is
an employee of the agency identified on the uniform. Presentation and
examination of a valid identification card with a picture of the
person purchasing the uniform and identification, on the letterhead
of the law enforcement agency, of the person buying the uniform as an
employee of the agency identified on the uniform shall be sufficient
verification.
(2) Any uniform vendor who sells a uniform identifying a law
enforcement agency, without verifying that the purchaser is an
employee of the agency, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a
fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(3) This subdivision shall not apply if the uniform is to be used
solely as a prop for a motion picture, television, video production,
or a theatrical event, and prior written permission has been obtained
from the identified law enforcement agency.

The False Imprisonment is a felony

14

Some of you are seeming to believe that someone was really “pulled over” by someone in a BMW. Please don’t be in a great big hurry to believe everything you read in the media. I think this story is going to take a very interesting turn before it is all said and done.

15

My old dept had two mustangs and a corvette as unmarked unit (seizure vehicles). All equipped with emergency lights and sirens (Sheriff drove an Escalade). It’s not out of the realm of possibility that a dept could run a BMW.

16

Same here, not my dept but my city county and state LEOs. I have seen them drive everything from a 3000GT to a totally macked out Escalade with 20 or 22 inch one off wheels.

17

You cannot always tell what sort of car is behind you when getting pulled over. If it is dark, lights glaring in your mirror, etc it can be hard.

We’ll just to see what comes of this. I am not making any judgments until it is over.

18

Me too.

Sounds like some people are taking the opposite approach.

19

Well here’s this. I don’t surf there but I guess this is the guy himself

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=269770

20

Ahh the good old days in FL of being pulled over on I95 unmarked Ford Mustangs that would appear out of nowhere no matter what “fast” car you thought you were driving!