Shreveport Man Gets Lengthy Sentence for Impersonating an Officer

A Shreveport man who pretended to be a police officer and terrorized a local woman was sentenced Wednesday, August 16, 2023, to 20 years in prison.

Reginald Jamar Ruffins, 36, was found guilty in March of charged with false personation of a peace officer and responsively guilty false imprisonment in connection with an incident that occurred June 22, 2022.

District Judge Donald E. Hathaway sentenced Ruffins as a fourth-felony offender, mandating the 20-year sentence at hard labor.

On June 22, 2022, Ruffins went to the Cooper Road Plaza Apartments dressed in a ballistic vest, duty rig belt and multiple law enforcement style tools, such as handcuffs, a collapsible baton and pepper spray. He entered an apartment and handcuffed the resident while he searched her dwelling for a gun she was legally allowed to possess. The woman's children were present at the time. The woman believed Ruffins to be in law enforcement and testified that he presented himself as such. Ruffins had been to the apartment complex multiple times trying to secure a paid contract with the complex to do security patrols and presented himself as a member of SPD to the apartment complex manager.

Prosecutors were Assistant District Attorneys Courtney N. Ray and Jason W. Waltman. He was defended by Sean Landry.

The case was docket No. 390262.