A blue strobe light and handcuffs are two of the items deputies confiscated from Richard Eppler's vehicle. They say he used them while attempting to conduct a phony traffic stop. "On this day of all the people in the parish he stopped a Bossier Sheriff's deputy, so it definitely wasn't his day," said Bossier Parish Sheriff's Spokesperson, LT. Ed Baswell. Surprisingly all of the items Eppler is accused of using can be legally purchased by the public in the State of Louisiana. "It's not against the law to sell law enforcement equipment to an individual. It's against the law for them to use it," said Dennis Williamson. Law Enforcement supply stores like TEECO Safety carry all of the police essentials like badges, handcuffs and bulletproof vests. And from time to time, Williamson says they do get customers he describes as suspicious. "By the questions they ask. They generally don't know how to identify the product like a regular law enforcement officer would." Those customers are turned away. "If it really is a strange individual the we do call the area departments and tell them. And we do try to get a license plate number and a description to let them know." Still, Williamson says thanks to modern technology it's actually pretty easy for police gear to fall into the wrong hands. "Well of course, once you get an I-D which you can get on the Internet. It's not that difficult... Especially if you're coming from out of town... I hope we never make that mistake." Deputies still don't know where Richard Eppler got the flashing blue light. The 17-year-old was booked into the Bossier Parish Maximum Security Facility. He's facing several charges including: fraudulent portrayal of a law enforcement officer, speeding, careless operation and introduction of contraband into a maximum security facility.
