TAJ TALKINGTON.jpeg

Taj Talkington, of Elyria was arrested for pretending to be a Cleveland officer. Police said he flashed a badge, pulled out a "realistic looking" toy gun, and tried to arrest a woman inside an Elyria bar.

(Elyria Police Department)

Elyria police recovered these two badges that were reported stolen. Cleveland police has no record of the badge numbers ever being in service.

ELYRIA, Ohio -- A man pretending to be a Cleveland police officer was arrested after he flashed a badge, pulled out a "realistic looking" toy gun and tried to arrest a worker at an Elyria bar, police said.

Taj Davidlee Talkington, 22, did not enter a plea to a felony abduction charge Monday in Elyria Municipal Court. He also pleaded not guilty Friday to several misdemeanors, including receiving stolen property and impersonating an officer.

Judge Lisa A. Locke Graves ordered him to stay at least 500 feet away from the victim and Boomers Bar. He's also not allowed to possess a gun as a condition of his bond.

Elyria police received a call about 8:30 p.m. Thursday that a man was holding people at gunpoint inside the bar in the 300 block of Broad Street.

Talkington got angry with a bartender who refused to let him take a beer outside, a police report says.

The bartender told him to leave, and Talkington flashed a badge and told her that she was going to jail, according to the report. He pulled out a gun when the 34-year-old bartender pulled away.

"She thought the gun was real," Elyria police Capt. Chris Costantino said Monday.

The woman told Talkington he couldn't handcuff her because he was drunk. Talkington told the woman he was an undercover Cleveland police officer, according to reports. A customer in the bar called 911.

Talkington ran out of the bar when he heard sirens. He was arrested in the parking lot of Fifth Third Bank across the street from the bar.

Officers found a Cleveland police badge in Talkington's pocket, Constantino said. They found a toy gun in the parking lot and another Cleveland police badge and handcuffs in bushes about 10 feet away.

A witness later told police that Talkington was showing badges and handcuffs in a Berea bar a week before the Elyria incident. The witness said that Talkington told her that he stole the handcuffs and badges when he broke into a house, according to reports.

The badges were reported stolen from a car in a Chestnut Street parking lot May 22, according to Elyria police reports.

The owner of the car told police he worked for Cleveland police for 15 years and bought the badges when he resigned, Costantino said.

Cleveland police have no record of the man who reported the badges stolen ever working for the department, spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said Monday. One of the badge numbers was last used in 1972, but she would have to see the badge to verify its authenticity, she added.

Cleveland police have no record of the other badge number.

Cleveland police officers are required to turn in a badge upon retiring, but they have several badges to wear on their coats, shirts, and vests, Ciaccia said. It is possible for a retired officer to still have a badge, she said.

Talkington is free on a $50,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 13.

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