CNN
Port St. Lucie, Florida -- A Florida teen is accused of posing as a police officer so his friend could steal. Police say the 17-year-old pretended to arrest his 14-year-old accomplice, who allegedly walked out of the store with a pocket full of goods.
Surveillance video shows what happened in the Port St. Lucie Walmart at about 3 a.m. Monday.
The 17-year-old wore a badge hanging from his pocket, and on his other hip, he wore a pellet gun that looks like a real gun. The teen later said he had the gun and badge, because he and his friend walked to Walmart and needed them for protection.
But protection is not how that gun was used. According to police, the 14-year-old boy shoplifted some trading cards. The 17-year-old then told the store manager he was a police officer and then "arrested" his friend.
Their whole plot was to make it look like he was arresting him so they wouldn't get caught for the shoplifting.
In the parking lot, surveillance video shows the 17-year-old even went so far as to slap handcuffs on his friend.
But the store manager didn't believe the story. She called the real police and the two teens were arrested.
But the 17-year-old claims there was no plot here, no plan. It was just a trip to Walmart that got out of control. Now he's afraid he's ruined his life.
"My whole life, I've wanted to join the service. I don't know if that can happen now," he says.
The teen faces a felony charge of impersonating a police officer.