Former Stamford police intern charged with impersonating cop

Ashwin Mathur, 21, of Fieldstone Terrace, a former police department intern, was charged Thursday with impersonating a police officer. Police said Mathur was dismissed as an intern because he had led others to believe he was a police officer and was warned not to do it again. less Ashwin Mathur, 21, of Fieldstone Terrace, a former police department intern, was charged Thursday with impersonating a police officer. Police said Mathur was dismissed as an intern because he had led others to ... more Photo: Contributed / Stamford Police Photo: Contributed / Stamford Police Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Former Stamford police intern charged with impersonating cop 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

STAMFORD — Ashwin Mathur apparently really wants to be cop.

Mathur had been working as an intern in the Stamford Police Department’s records retention office, but was let go two weeks ago after police say he violated procedures and portrayed himself as a cop to members of the public.

On Thursday, he was accused of doing it again. Mathur, 21, of Fieldstone Terrace, was charged with two counts of impersonating a police officer and was released after posting a $25,000 court appearance bond.

Capt. Richard Conklin said a woman who lives not far from Mather first complained to police that, on June 26, a man wearing a black polo shirt with a city of Stamford crest identified himself as a city police officer and began talking to her and her husband about car break-ins in the area.

He asked if they had seen anyone suspicious and said a night or two earlier, he had been on duty and scared off a Hispanic male trying to break into the couple’s car. The man, who said he had been on the job for two years, stopped by two more times that same evening asking about the couple’s home security system and garage door, and whether their dog was friendly.

Conklin said the woman called 911 dispatch, not believing the man was a police officer, and asked if there was anyone working the area that fit the man’s description. Dispatchers said no.

On Tuesday night, the woman rolled through a stop sign as she turned off Strawberry Hill Avenue toward her street. Seconds later, a car with a blue strobe light pulled up behind her. The same man got out of the car and told the woman he saw her go through the stop sign, but would not ticket her because he was not on duty.

“She immediately recognized him from their previous encounter on June 26,” Conklin said. “She described the car and the strobe light, got enough information on the individual that we were able to track him down.” The woman was shown a photo line-up of eight similar-looking individuals and immediately picked out Mathur’s picture, Conklin said.

Police executed a search warrant at Mathur’s residence, where they found his mother’s car and confiscated a blue strobe light.

At the time he was dismissed from his internship, Conklin said Mather “was spoken to and really warned about the consequences of portraying himself as a police officer. Unfortunately he has continued in his actions, which has led to his arrest.”

In one instance while an intern, Mathur emailed the Downtown Special Services District saying he wanted to volunteer to help with drunk teens at Alive@5 events and said he was a police officer, Conklin said.

jnickerson@scni.com