'Agent' At Playland With Fake FBI Badge Tells Cops He And His 'K-9' Were Recently Shot On Duty: Police

RYE, NY — A fake FBI agent and his 'K-9' partner were nabbed at the Playland Tiki Bar on Independence Day, according to police.

The Westchester County Police Department says the Somers man was charged with criminal impersonation over the holiday weekend after he visited Playland Park while wearing a fake FBI shield and "spinning a tall tale" about being shot while on the job.

On July 4, around 5:45 p.m., undercover officers assigned to Playland spoke with a man whose dog was wearing a tan vest with a K-9 patch with a blue line, in addition to other patches. The man told the officers that he and his dog had recently been shot, and he removed his knee brace to show them a wound.

SEE ALSO: A Tale Of Being Shot In The Knee By A Stranger At The Front Door Led Cops To Guns, Drugs, Mushrooms

Westchester County police say that the man then raised his shirt to show them a gold shield at his waist. He told the officers that he was "FBI," and that he and the dog had recently been shot in the line of duty. Police say that "to make the tale even better," he also told the officers that his dog had bitten and killed the attacker.

After the man went back into the Tiki Bar restaurant, an employee in the area gave the officers a business card that the man had been handing out. Police say the card was for a dog-walking service with John Fiore listed as the owner.

"Now this guy's story didn’t add up from the get-go, but you have to do your due diligence," police said.

During a follow-up investigation, officers were unable to find any evidence of an FBI agent named John Fiore. They also did not find any reports of a recent shooting of an FBI agent or a K-9.

However, they did find a New York State Police release from May about a man with the same name who had claimed to be shot by an intruder at his front door, but had actually shot himself in the knee.

A search of Fiore's home during the May incident led to the seizure of firearms, including two that had been reported stolen; psilocybin mushrooms; and several baggies containing a "white powdery substance."

Officers "retrieved" Fiore from the Tiki Bar and took him to the Playland Precinct. Police say that during the walk there, he knocked the shield off his waistband and tried to kick it out of sight.

"There's a picture of it here so you know how that worked out," Westchester County police said.

The 47-year-old Somers resident was charged with felony first-degree criminal impersonation. Fiore is due in Rye City Court on July 14.