A Texas man dressed up as a police officer to burglarize a home with occupants inside before he was later arrested, authorities said. Salvatore Alfieri IV, 38, approached the home in Bexar County with a handgun while wearing a tactical “police” vest, ski mask and law enforcement insignia on Sunday evening when he convinced someone inside he was a San Antonio police officer, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said.
He demanded entry into the home, saying he worked for “probation” and needed to search for “contraband,” Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference.
Fox News reports that the victim was a woman and her teenage kid. Alfieri took the phones so they couldn’t make any calls and stole several thousand dollars in cash and some personal items. The woman called the sheriff’s office still not sure if the offender was really a police officer.
“He knew just enough about the male that was not there at that time to give the female a convincing story on why he was there,” Salazar said. “He was confident. He was comfortable with where he was at and what he was doing.”
Investigators believe Alfieri was “desperate for money” and that it was not his first time committing a robbery.
He rented a car through an app owned by another user to drive to the home. The vehicle has since been returned to its owner, Salazar said.
Alfieri has been charged with impersonating a public servant, burglary, unlawful restraint and interference with an emergency phone call. No one was hurt in the incident.
