Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Metro: Off-duty guard wrote apology to victim after impersonating cop

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Issiah Marable

A Las Vegas security guard allegedly wrote an apology to a man he tried to rob by pretending to be a police officer.

According to an arrest report released today, the victim told police he was walking with a woman along Oakey Boulevard and Kittie Way about 6:45 a.m. on Saturday when they were approached by a pair of men who stepped out of a Honda Accord and identified themselves as police officers. The men ordered the pedestrians to put their hands behind their backs, grabbing the male victim and pushing him up against a wall to search through his pockets.

One of the men had a gold badge hanging from his neck and the other was wearing all black clothes and a black knitted cap with the word “security” printed on the front.

The victim told police he became suspicious and tried to pull away, at which point one of the men tried to handcuff him. He eventually escaped and called 911, and the phony cops ran back to their car.

Police tracked down the Accord’s owner using a description of the vehicle and its license plate number. Issiah Marable, 20, was pulled over on Wednesday by a Metro Police official who saw him make an illegal lane change near Decatur Boulevard and Smoke Ranch Road.

Detectives noticed a large black flashlight, a black nylon duty belt and other items commonly worn by security guards and police officers in plain view inside of his car, and they subsequently questioned him about Saturday’s incident.

Marable, who was heading to work at Las Vegas-based Trinity Security Services, reportedly admitted to pretending to be a cop on Saturday using equipment issued by his employer. He allegedly asked to write an apology letter to the victim asking for forgiveness because he “was trying to be a man by taking responsibility for it.” He did not give a motive for targeting the victim but said that his friend and companion, identified only as “Mike,” ordered him to pull the Accord over and grabbed Marable’s security badge before “manhandling” the victim.

He was arrested on Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to commit a robbery, impersonation of an officer and first-degree kidnapping.

Marable had been employed by Trinity since November, according to the Nevada Private Investigator's Licensing Board. He holds a valid license to work as a guard from the state agency, which conducted a background check during the accreditation process.

Trinity did not issue him a weapon or handcuffs and he was not authorized to arrest anyone as part of his job, company owner Walt Walters said, noting that Saturday’s incident happened shortly after Marable had ended a work shift.

Walters said Marable had been performing well at work, noting that he has been fired since the arrest. Walters declined to say where Marable had been patrolling shortly before Saturday’s incident, citing a confidentiality agreement with his client.

“It’s terrible,” Walters said. “I hope the victims are OK.”

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