LPD: 2 men cited for impersonating officers, trying to steal dog

Two men were cited for impersonating public services officers in an apparent attempt to steal a dog, authorities said. 

Lincoln Police on Saturday cited Trey Piper, 22, and Zachary Fuller, 30, following a weeks-long investigation. 

Police say an 18-year-old woman said her neighbor called and alerted her that two men were at her apartment trying to steal her bulldog from a balcony on May 9. The woman and her boyfriend rushed home and confronted the two men, who were dressed in fake uniforms – which included tactical vests, badges, batons, and guns, police said. 

One of the men claimed to be an Animal Control officer and told the victim it was illegal to have a dog on a balcony, police said. The victim told police yellow ropes had been thrown onto the balcony, as if the men were trying to lasso the dog, police said. 

Three days later, the same men called Animal Control to the complex, near S 55th and Shady Creek Court, reporting that the dog had been abandoned, authorities said.

An Animal Control officer who went to the scene said the men had red and blue lights on their Jeep, fake uniforms, and one of them referred to himself as “Captain Fuller.” 

The Animal Control officer said the men asked her to go inside and rescue the dog, but, growing suspicious, she alerted Lincoln Police instead. 

Officers cited Piper and Fuller for impersonating a public service officer.