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Man Who Impersonated Police Officer Gets 5 Years' Probation

FLINT (AP) — A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to five years of probation for handcuffing people while pretending to be a police officer in Flint, Michigan.

The Flint Journal reports that Jeffrey Jones was sentenced Monday in Genesee County Circuit Court.

Jones pleaded guilty to impersonating a police officer. He and four others had been responding since 2015 to 911 calls. They had fake badges, handcuffs and weapons, and drove vehicles equipped with emergency lights.

They were members of a group calling itself the Genesee County Fire and EMS Media-Genesee County Task Force Blight Agency. Authorities have said the group fooled police, firefighters and the public. Some people were held at gunpoint.

An investigation started after a complaint about rude Genesee County park rangers who turned out to be impostors.

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