Westport man charged with criminal impersonation

NORWALK -- A drunk and belligerent man thought to be from Indiana turned out to be from Westport once in police custody, according to reports from Norwalk Police officers.

Harry Birch, 20, of 37 Crescent Road, Westport, was charged with breach of peace, interfering with an officer and criminal impersonation. Birch was issued $1,000 bond and given a court date of Jan. 15.

Responding to a report of harassing behavior in South Norwalk, a Norwalk Police officer was flagged down on Washington Street by an unidentified male who appeared to be involved in an altercation with two white males, the officer reported.

As the officer approached the scene, the two males fled on foot toward the intersection of Washington and South Main Streets.

The complainant told the responding officer that he did not know the two men who had accosted him, adding that the men began arguing with him and pushed him, according to police reports.

The officer asked the complainant to stand by as he set off to pursue the two men; police reports indicate that when the officer encountered them on South Main Street, they were embracing and staggering into the road.

When asked to provide identification, one of the men produced a Connecticut driver's license and the other produced a license from Indiana bearing the surname Van Osdol, Norwalk Police said.

As the officer checked the IDs for warrants, a backup officer arrived and informed the first officer that Van Osdol had been ejected from Johnny Utah's earlier that night for fighting and had attempted to re-enter the restaurant four or five times, each time being denied entry by security.

When the two men were told to sit on the ground, the man with a Connecticut identification complied but the man carrying the Indiana license became argumentative and began flailing his arms, police said.

A scuffle ensued during which the Indiana man sustained a laceration to his upper nose, police said; he was then handcuffed and made to sit in a squad car.

As officers at Norwalk Police headquarters made an inventory of his possessions, they found a Connecticut license that identified the man supposed to be Van Osdol from Indiana as one Harry Birch of Westport.

Besides the identification card, two credit cards with the Van Osdol name were found in Birch's possession and tagged as evidence, police said.

Birch admitted to using the Van Osdol identity "for whatever he needed," according to Norwalk Police reports.