WA Man Charged with Posing as Officer, Holding Man at Gunpoint

The owner of a Lakewood, WA, security company is behind bars for allegedly pointing a gun at a man’s head while posing as a police officer.

Michael James Landen Jr., 38, was arrested Feb. 20 and charged with trying to pull another driver over — on busy Interstate 5 — with lights flashing.

According to court documents, a King County Sheriff’s Office detective witnessed the incident and followed Landen’s car off the Seneca Street exit in Seattle.

Sheriff John Urquhart said Landen told the driver of a white sedan that “he was a cop, pulled a gun on him. He thought he was going to get shot.”

Landen’s security company is called P.O.I.I.C.E. Upon first glance, the badge he wears appears to say “police”; however the letters stand for Professional Officers Involved in Community Enhancement, the News Tribune reports.