FIFE, Wash. — A man accused of driving around a Ukrainian grocery store in a fake U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle said he did it for a YouTube video and that the whole thing was being blown out of proportion.
On March 16, around 5 p.m., Fife Police responded to a 911 call of a “suspicious vehicle” at the Emish Market on 70th Avenue E. Callers said the vehicle looked like a law enforcement SUV and that it had no license plates but had a prominent ICE emblem on the side of the car, as well as a pseudo-seal of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, suggesting it was a federal immigration agent. There were apparent misspellings on the emblem.
“The vehicle’s presence appeared intentional, targeting a Ukrainian grocery store; indicating a deliberate effort to intimidate and draw attention to itself. Witnesses reported that the occupant(s) were recording employees and customers on video, causing alarm and concern,” Fife police wrote at the time.
There were reports that the driver was honking the horn and that the person inside was video recording the event. The vehicle also was reported to have circled the lot several times and blocked a driveway.
The vehicle left before police got to the store.
“People got a little bit nervous, ‘cause they don’t know what to expect,” said Emish store manager, Olena Ray, when the incident initially happened.
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“It’s a personal intimidation for people who were just not born here,” Ray said. “When someone is harassing you this way, it doesn’t make it easier to work peacefully, you know, live in a society where we paying taxes when you know we expect to be treated the same way.”
Police spoke to the 26-year-old man they believed was driving the vehicle around Emish. According to a police report, when asked about it, he told police: “Either way, the moral of it all is it was for a YouTube video, and [it] obviously got blown out of proportion like crazy.”
Fife police also asked him specifically about the situation at Emish, to which the suspect said: “[I] allegedly just drove in, just drove around in a couple circles and left. That’s all, there is nothing more to it. There was no beef,” he told officers, according to a police report. He also told them that he goes there often and said he himself is Ukranian.
Police say during their talks with the man, they explained how dangerous it could be for whoever was driving in the vehicle because they could be targeted by someone from the public who thought the driver was a real ICE agent.
The man then asked what was the line that was crossed to make this incident considered law enforcement impersonation, according to court documents.
After the Emish incident, Fife Police said they were made aware of a video that had a person wearing “law enforcement style clothing” with ICE on it and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest. In that video, that person was seen putting a handcuffed person into what appeared to be a fake ICE vehicle. Police said the video appeared to be staged for social media.
The man arrested told police that the video was filmed on his own private property and it was a skit.
He was arrested for second-degree criminal impersonation.
“Criminal impersonation —intentionally creating the impression of acting in an official capacity as a law enforcement officer and causing the community to feel harassed— is a serious crime. Such actions create unnecessary challenges for all law enforcement agencies, regardless of jurisdiction, and pose obstacles to effective public safety. There is also a real danger to the individual perpetrating the impersonation,” Fife police said.
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