Fla. Man Impersonating Cop Fails to Snag Free Meal

Joseph Pineda demanded a free meal Friday afternoon when he pulled up to a McDonald's drive-through window. He was entitled to it, he told restaurant employees, because he was a cop.

Oct. 8, 2012

ST. PETERSBURG -- Joseph Pineda demanded a free meal Friday afternoon when he pulled up to a McDonald's drive-through window. He was entitled to it, he told restaurant employees, because he was a cop, Pinellas sheriff's deputies said.

But the employees and a manager at the McDonald's on 5464 66th Street N didn't believe him, even after Pineda showed them a badge and gun. He had just come from a sting, he told them, and didn't have his wallet, deputies said. He continued to demand that his food should be free. That's when employees called the real police, who arrested Pineda, 33, on charges of impersonating a police officer and improper exhibition of a firearm.