Don’t say you’re a cop if you’re not, especially to someone who is. And that goes for federal security officers.

A Transportation Security Administration supervisor assigned to Newark Liberty International Airport was arrested last week on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer, after authorities say he told a Roselle Park patrolman who had pulled him over that he was a cop, too.

Michael Mazzone, 27, of Roselle Park, a lead transportation security officer employed by the TSA since 2006, is due in Superior Court in Elizabeth on Friday, said Detective Sgt. Manuel Jimenez, a spokesman for the Roselle Park Police Department.

Jimenez said Mazzone was arrested Wednesday, March 2, on a charge of "pretending to hold a position as a sworn law enforcement officer."

Mazzone faces a separate charge in Roselle Park Municipal Court of failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, the offense he was originally stopped for, before claiming to be a "customs inspector," Jimenez said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:



• Jersey City factory worker got box-cutters past JFK airport screeners: newspaper report

• Former TSA officer at Newark airport admits he stole up to $30K from travelers' bags

• Newark airport checkpoint closes for 20 minutes in latest security breach

• TSA officials confirm string of Newark airport security lapses

• Most holiday travelers opted for controversial full-body scanners, TSA says

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are empowered to carry firearms and make arrests. TSA officers can do neither.

The arrest occurred only days before another mishap for the TSA’s Newark Liberty detachment: A security checkpoint in Terminal C was shut down for 10 minutes Sunday afternoon after a carry-on bag raised a red flag during a X-ray, but the wrong bag was physically searched, officials said.

Ann Davis, a TSA spokeswoman, said the mistake was discovered before the passenger or bag left the checkpoint, and security was never compromised.

"TSA’s review of this event is ongoing. However, it appears TSA officers and managers followed proper protocol," Davis said in a statement.

Sunday’s incident follows a half-dozen security breaches at Newark that prompted U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey last month to call for an investigation. His spokesman, Caley Gray, said today that the senator has been in touch with the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general’s office and, "they plan to do an investigation based on Senator Lautenberg’s concerns."

Mazzone was pulled over at noon on Jan. 19, when he told Officer Theodore Dima he was a customs agent but wasn’t carrying his badge, Jimenez said. He said the real officer issued the impersonator a summons for not yielding and let him go, then called federal officials.

"I wouldn’t say it’s a particular affront," Jimenez said. "But you’re pretending to be somebody who has particular expertise or authority and you’re lying about it."

Mazzone does not have a published phone number and could not be reached for comment.

Davis said Mazzone’s "continued employment will be determined based on the result of TSA’s ongoing inquiry into his actions and the result of the pending case."

Staff writer Mike Frassinelli contributed to this report.