She Thought She Was Training to Be DEA Agent. Cops Say It Was All a Dupe

Man now facing federal charges for impersonating narcotics agent
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 7, 2022 3:11 AM CST
Updated Feb 12, 2022 4:30 PM CST
For a Year, Man Duped Woman Into Thinking She Was a DEA Agent: Cops
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / BrianAJackson)

An Oregon woman trained to be a DEA agent for a year ... with a man who, police say, was an impostor. His strange alleged scheme unraveled last week when a sergeant with the Portland Police Bureau saw the man and woman standing near a silver Dodge Charger with red and blue emergency lights and a tactical vest with a DEA patch in the trunk. Approaching them, the officer asked if they were federal narcotics agents, and the man said they were, the Oregonian reports. He then asked the woman to show the sergeant her DEA credentials, which she pulled out, along with a badge. One problem: Police say they were fake. After the woman told her story, her companion, 41-year-old Robert Edward Golden, was arrested and charged with impersonating a federal agent.

The woman, who was not charged with a crime, said that Golden had issued her the badge and had, for a year, taken her on nightly ride-alongs and helped her practice shooting. Golden allegedly told police that during the ride-alongs, he'd take the woman to talk to homeless people in an attempt to recruit "confidential informants," the New York Times reports. Officers found handcuffs, holsters, and a BB gun that looked like an AR-15 in Golden's possession. He insisted he and the woman were simply involved in "cosplay," or costume play, and wore the DEA agent costumes for "protection" so they wouldn't be bothered near their apartment complex. He also said he used the lights on his car to get through traffic more quickly. But police believe he duped the woman into believing she really was training to be a federal agent. (More weird crimes stories.)

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