REBELVILLE, Ind. — A little known state statute has turned an otherwise happy-go-lucky bunch of volunteer firefighters into a band of law-enforcing vigilantes. Their target: area police.

The law was created in the early 1980s to accommodate the red beret wearing group Guardian Angels, famous for their citizen arrests in New York subways. But as Indiana has almost no urban areas and less crime, the Guardian Angels grew bored and left.

The law collected dust until last month when Rebelville volunteer firefighters dug it up and used it to take down a county cop who had parked his cruiser in front of a burning house.

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"That first arrest was pretty rough," said Skeeter Dupree, a Rebelville Lieutenant and leader of the band. "He wouldn't come peaceful so we turned the hose on him and used his own cuffs — lost the house for spending so much time messing with that cop."

Now the band is more organized. Using a scanner and chase vehicles, they patrol a four-county area, responding to any incident where fire and police are on scene.

"When we see something that ain't right, we start hollering, 'Yiee, yiee, yiee, citizen arrest, citizen arrest, yiee, yiee, yiee.'" Dupree said. "A bunch of us'll bum-rush the offending officer. John-John's gotten himself Tased a few times, but he don't seem to mind too much."

Although the FOP is lobbying to have the law stricken from the books, most cops are adopting a preventative stance.

"I don't like it," said Rebelville Police Capt. Joe Smith. "But getting arrested is a big hassle. I just make sure I don't park in front of a hydrant. And if they want a road closed at a traffic crash, well, I go ahead on and close it."