Former Charlotte police officer arrested for impersonating law enforcement ... again

Amanda Zhou

The U.S. Marshals Service for the Western District of North Carolina announced Thursday it had arrested a former Charlotte police officer for impersonating a deputy U.S. marshal. It was hardly the man’s first time being arrested for the same charge.

Douglas Frederick Martin’s latest attempt started in August 2019, when authorities found counterfeit U.S. Marshals Service credentials with his photo and signature at a Harris Teeter in Indian Trail, according to a news release from the agency. Investigators later learned that during a stop for speeding in Cabarrus County, Martin told officers he was a U.S. marshal and presented a counterfeit badge and “fictitious law enforcement credentials,” the release said.

In November 2019, the U.S. Marshals Service said they used a search warrant at Martin’s home and seized a fake badge and “additional fictitious Deputy U.S. Marshal credentials.”

Martin — who lives in Indian Trail — has been arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer two other times since the 1980s.

The Observer previously reported that Martin was arrested in 2006 on three counts. In that case, Martin had convinced both the motorist he had pulled over and the Mint Hill police officers who drove up on the traffic stop that he was a federal agent.

He had been driving a Ford Crown Victoria with blue lights and a siren and had a police-style badge and jacket, the Observer previously reported. He told the officers to arrest the driver for driving while impaired. (The Mint Hill officers later followed the driver but did not arrest the driver because they did not see any signs of impairment.)

Martin also was charged in March 2006, after police said he identified himself as a federal agent at a West Mecklenburg High School basketball game, the Observer reported in July 2006. Prosecutors dismissed the charges.

Martin also was charged with two counts of impersonating law enforcement in 1988.

The Observer also has reported that Martin was a Charlotte police officer from 1981 until 1986, when he resigned after being suspended without pay.

He was released on bond on Thursday morning, officials said.

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