On Thursday, February 22, 2024, Newark Police responded to the Suburban Plaza Shopping Center on Suburban Drive for a reported unconscious person in a vehicle.
Upon arrival, officers located a male unconscious in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle. There were suspected drugs in plain view. The male was wearing a tactical-style police vest with “Police” displayed on the front.
After the male was awoken, officers found he was under the influence of drugs and he was taken into custody without incident. He was identified as Brian Carter, 46, of Newark. Carter is not a police officer.
During a search of the vehicle, officers located suspected heroin and drug paraphernalia.
Carter was transported to Newark Police headquarters where he was charged with Criminal impersonation of a police officer Possession of a controlled substance, and Driving under the influence of drugs.
Carter appeared before Justice of the Peace Court #2 by video and was ordered to be held in default of $8,000 cash bail. Carter was turned over to the custody of the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington.
Newark Police did not say what they thought Carter’s intentions were or why they waited a week to tell the public.