Fourth felony offender facing lengthy sentence for impersonating officer, handcuffing woman

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - A Shreveport man who impersonated a police officer and detained a woman during the summer of 2022 has been found guilty, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office announced Friday, March 24.

On Thursday, March 23, Reginald Jamar Ruffins, 36, was found guilty of false impersonation of a peace officer and false imprisonment. The jury deliberated for about an hour and a half.

Back on June 22, 2022, Ruffins went to the Cooper Road Plaza Apartments dressed in a ballistic vest, duty rig belt, and was carrying multiple law enforcement style tools, such as handcuffs, a collapsible baton, and pepper spray. The DA’s office says he went into one of the apartments and handcuffed a woman while he searched the apartment for a gun she was legally allowed to have.

The woman’s children were also inside the apartment at the time.

The DA’s office says the woman believed Ruffins was a law enforcement officer and testified in court that he presented himself as such. The DA’s office also says Ruffins had visited the complex several times before this incident trying to get a paid contract with the apartments to do security patrols, and pretended to be an officer with the Shreveport Police Department when speaking with the complex manager.

Ruffins is scheduled to be sentenced April 5. He faces up to two years in prison, however, he has four prior felony convictions in Caddo and Bossier parishes, the DA says, as well as another conviction out of Texas for impersonating an officer. In light of all this, the state plans to file a habitual offender bill against Ruffins. As a result, he faces a mandatory 20-year sentence. He’s also facing up to six months in the Caddo Correctional Center for the false imprisonment conviction.

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