A Massapequa man was convicted after a jury trial of multiple counts of weapons possession and impersonating a police officer after officers pulled over his Chevrolet Impala in October 2023 and found a loaded, operable illegal handgun and police paraphernalia, including handcuffs, police shields and an imposter police tactical vest.
On October 11, 2023, at approximately 10:32 p.m., two officers were on patrol in an unmarked vehicle on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway and attempting to merge onto the highway. The officers stopped to let a car go ahead of them, a white Chevrolet Impala driven by Andrew Denton.
While driving on the expressway, Denton brake-checked the officers’ car and then turned on blue, amber, and white rear emergency lights on his Impala. Officers recognized that the vehicle had characteristics that did not match an actual Nassau County unmarked police vehicle, including too many lights in the car, which made them suspicious. The officers followed the Impala off the highway and engaged their own emergency lights to pull the defendant over.
Denton did not stop the car right away but instead began driving very slowly and rummaging around in the front passenger seat. He then engaged his emergency rear lights once more to try to throw the officers off and then stopped the car.
After approaching the vehicle, officers spotted an orange flare gun inside the glovebox and a gun light, an accessory designed to be mounted to the bottom of a gun barrel.
Denton and his passenger were asked to step out of the car, which was then searched by the officers who recovered a knife, a New York City Police Department shield, handcuffs, flares for the flare gun, and bore brushes used to clean a .40 or .45 caliber firearm.
Officers then found a small gray backpack that contained a loaded .45 caliber gun with two magazines filled with 17 bullets.
Denton’s car was impounded, and another search of the trunk recovered a black tactical police vest with wooden pieces instead of armored plates inside the vest, covered in patches that read “Police DEA Task Force” and “Police.” The vest also had a shield, handcuffs, a fake imitation taser, a baton, and a shoulder-mounted radio.
The investigation also determined that Denton was the major contributor of DNA recovered from the firearm.
Denton, 27, was convicted on October 29, 2025, after a jury trial before Judge Tammy Robbins of two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a Class C violent felony); Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree (a Class D felony); Criminal Impersonation in the First Degree (a Class A misdemeanor); Operating a Motor Vehicle with No License Plate or a Single License Plate and Unauthorized Colored Lights on Vehicle (both traffic infractions).
The trial started on October 16, 2025, and the jury deliberated for less than three hours before returning their verdict.
Denton faces a maximum of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on December 3, 2025.
“[When he was pulled over], Denton got off with a warning and was told to remove the lights, but the defendant did not listen to actual law enforcement. Instead, believing he was above the law, the wannabe continued driving that imposter Impala and only became more brazen,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
“Six months later, Denton flashed his lights and brake-checked another vehicle on the highway, but he picked the wrong car,” Donnelly continued. “Actual plainclothes police officers were driving that vehicle, and when they pulled Denton over, they discovered phony police gear and a very real .45 caliber firearm. Denton told excuse after excuse to explain away his crimes, but police officers – and now a jury of his peers – were not buying it.”