Man charged with impersonating police
BY JOHN VALENTI
Newsday Staff Writer
February 7, 2007, 1:40 PM EST
He drove a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, navy blue. He wore a uniform, carried a badge. He had an identification card, embossed with the state seals.
He worked hard, had his own office in Hempstead, made traffic stops -- and, even, arrests for "low-level crimes."
The was only one problem with all the police and law enforcement work Henry Lee Terry Jr. of Holbrook was doing in Nassau, Suffolk and New York City, the Suffolk District Attorney's Office said.
Terry, 24, wasn't a cop. Or, as he claimed, supervisor of the New York Enforcement Asset Recovery Bureau, Hempstead Office, District 2. It was all fiction.
He was an impersonator.
Now a Suffolk grand jury has indicted Terry, an indictment that will be unsealed Wednesday morning, Suffolk District Attorney's Office spokesman Robert Clifford said. Terry has been held by police since his Jan. 25 arrest on charges of grand larceny, third degree, and criminal impersonation, first degree -- both felonies, Clifford said.
The grand larceny charge, Clifford said, involves Terry's theft of a 1994 Toyota SUV. Terry convinced the owner that his Land Cruiser was needed by police to use in an undercover investigation of a subversive group that Terry called "The Aryan Brotherhood." The defendant actually swapped the victim's vehicle for another car and $600 cash.
Terry pleaded not guilty to first-degree criminal impersonation and third-degree grand larceny and was held on bail of $75,000 cash or $150,000 bond.
Terry's attorney, George Dazzo of Patchogue, said he was still investigating the facts of the case, but emphasized that "no one has come forward to say they [were] injured in any way, and he does maintain his innocence at this time."
Law enforcement officials said Terry previously served time in state prison on criminal impersonation charges. He also has a 2002 conviction for reckless endangerment, records show.
"He is convincing," Clifford said of how Terry was able to impersonate law enforcement agents. "Problem was he commanded a fictional agency."
Clifford said Terry made routine "stops" in the metro area, but would not say how many or during what time period. He said police arrested Terry after executing warrants that revealed evidence of the alleged crimes, but could not reveal more details this morning.
Clifford said Terry carried a 9-millimeter handgun, but it was altered so it could not fire -- which is why he avoided weapons possession charges.
According to law enforcement sources, Terry allegedly dressed in navy blue pants, a blue T-shirt and drove a 2003 navy blue Crown Victoria, the kind used by police. His gold badge read: Supervisor, NYLPA, Property Protection -- and was embossed with the New York State seal.
He carried an identification card that had his picture and a state seal and gave his "official" title: New York Enforcement Asset Recovery Bureau, Hempstead Office, District 2, Supervision Staff. Underneath, Clifford said, it read: Henry Lee Terry, Jr., District 2 Commander.
In addition to stopping motorists, Clifford said, Terry would sometimes even "arrest" people he believed were perpetrating "low-level crimes." Clifford said Terry "arrested" people he believed were petty criminals, prostitutes and drug users, but told them he would make sure all potential charges were dropped -- if they paid a "fine" on the spot. However, Clifford said, Terry also had an office -- which police raided, finding files and "arrest" reports on victims he stopped.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
