Man sentenced on charge of impersonating public servant

A Morrisdale man accused of intimidating Wal-Mart employees by flashing his gun was sentenced Monday in Clearfield County Court.

Brooks M. Beveridge, 33, was in the Clearfield store in February when he began arguing with employees about returning an item, according to court records. After he became upset, he flashed a handgun and claimed to be an undercover police officer.

On Monday Beveridge pleaded guilty to impersonating a public servant and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation by Judge Fredric J. Ammerman. As part of his sentence, he will have to undergo a mental health assessment. He was also ordered not to have a firearm.

Beveridge, whose attorney stated was a veteran that served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said that not being able to have a firearm was the worst part of his punishment. He apologized to the court for his actions.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, an employee told police that on Feb. 7 a man, later identified as Beveridge approached her at the customer service desk and asked to return batteries. After this, Beveridge then attempted to return an Apple TV worth approximately $199.99. She asked him for the receipt and he responded that he didn’t have one. He explained he had purchased the item from the State College Wal-Mart about two weeks ago. The employee attempted to run the serial number on the TV but it was hard to read and the device serial number did not match the number on the box which he had with him.

When she told him she was unable to return the item, he became agitated, and she contacted the customer service manager. The manager told the man they could not make the return for the same reasons the other employee had stated to him. The first employee said Beveridge then opened his jacket to show them a gun that he had concealed in a brown leather shoulder holster. He said he was an undercover police officer; why would he lie about this? The employee told police this made her feel uncomfortable and she thought he did this to intimidate them.

The employees then retrieved the store manager who told Beveridge the same thing. He opened his jacket again and told this manager that he was an undercover cop.

When police asked this employee if he said anything else, she said Beveridge kept stating he needed money for gas and groceries for his children. He stated if they could just give him $100, and they told him they couldn’t do that. Then he said “just give me $10” as he needed money. He said they had to do something because this was their fault and not his.

The customer service manager told police that she felt he was mentally unstable and was concerned about his actions. Because he told them he bought the TV in State College, she contacted that store and discovered they had not sold that item in the past two weeks. After he showed them his gun, she said she felt very uncomfortable and intimidated which is why she contacted her manager.

Once all three employees told him he couldn’t return the item, he left on his own. They followed to make sure he went out of the store. The manager said he drove away in a black Nissan truck. He was able to give police the man’s driver’s license number, which was on the receipt for the return of the batteries. This led investigators to Beveridge.

The officer checked all vehicles registered to Beveridge and found he did own a Nissan truck. He then checked with the Clearfield County Sheriff’s Department to determine if he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon and he did. The officer asked them to revoke his permit.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Man sentenced on charge of impersonating public servant."