Police say Fayetteville Police Department-issued equipment reported stolen from an officer’s home was recovered during the investigation of a robbery at an Osceola Drive residence. Jayden Boone, 27, faces multiple charges in the case; no injuries were reported. ABC11 and CBS 17 reported that investigators say Boone wore the equipment during the incident.
According to CBS 17, the suspect allegedly arrived at the home dressed as an officer, knocked, entered and took money. Police located Boone in the area shortly afterward and took him into custody, ABC11 reported. An arrest warrant said $7 was stolen; the specific equipment recovered has not been disclosed in the information available here.
The impersonation statute is only one part of the case
Boone is charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, impersonating a law-enforcement officer and possession of stolen goods, in addition to facing unrelated outstanding warrants, according to ABC11. The charges are allegations, not findings of guilt.
North Carolina law defines falsely representing oneself as a sworn law-enforcement officer to include verbally claiming that status or displaying a badge or identification that signifies it. The statute classifies violations of the specified conduct in subdivisions (a)(1), (2) or (3) as Class 1 misdemeanors, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. That general statutory description does not determine how the law applies to Boone’s allegations, nor does it resolve the separate robbery and stolen-goods charges.
Other North Carolina cases offer comparisons, not a trend
A separate Winston-Salem case involved a similar alleged use of false law-enforcement identity in a home robbery, but with materially different circumstances. The Associated Press, as published by Carolina Coast Online, reported that two men were accused of posing as federal officers during a May 28 home robbery; investigators said seven people were restrained and multiple items were taken. The cited account does not establish the year of that May 28 incident.
A different case, reported by WECT and published by CBS 17 in 2021, involved Eric Cinotti, who faced charges related to impersonating a Navassa police officer at an emergency medical call. That report did not describe a home robbery. These separate cases illustrate different allegations; they do not establish how common such incidents are or whether they are increasing.
Statewide figures also require care in interpretation. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Justice Data Portal cautions that NIBRS offense definitions may not correspond directly with state criminal statutes. Its crime data therefore should not be treated as a count of Boone’s specific charge.
CBS 17 reported that Boone is being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center without bond and that police said additional charges may follow as the investigation continues. Details about his attorney and a court date have not been released.
