Magnolia man accused of impersonating officer in Tomball neighborhood

TOMBALL, Texas – Police said they arrested a Magnolia man Friday night after he tried to impersonate a Houston police officer.

Robert Sterling Wells, 39, is accused of telling both neighbors and officers that he was a law enforcement officer.

"The first thing he said to me was he was HPD," said Christina Rood, whose husband noticed someone unfamiliar outside the empty house across the street from them.

"They [the neighbors] already had someone trying to steal stuff off their property and they don’t live in the house yet and I knew it was strange so I walked over and approached the guy," Rood explained.

She said Wells was dressed in a K-9 unit shirt with a holster, but without a gun.

“I just made small talk with him and signaled for my husband to call the police and I tried to hold him there as long as I could," Rood said.

"He said he was there to look at the house, the contractors told him it was about to be done being remodeled and that it was coming up for sale. I knew it wasn’t true because we know the homeowners.”

Rood said she was suspicious because Wells' truck had Colorado license plates.

She said she started taking pictures.

“He was like, 'Are you trying to take pictures of me? Of my vehicle? You don’t believe I’m an officer?' Then he walked up to the truck and flashed the badge and was like, 'You know it’s illegal to impersonate an officer," Rood said.

Wells drove off, but officers arrested him at the end of the street.

Tomball police said initially Wells told them he was an officer, but then changed his story, claiming he was dressed up for a Renaissance Festival audition.

Police said Wells told them the same story about wanting to buy the house.

Records show Wells has a criminal history stemming from writing fake checks, burglary and assault.

"It makes you wonder what he’s capable of doing if he would have gotten in the house if somebody lived there," a concerned Rood said.

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