They also learned that Snow had a prior history involving impersonation of a public official. That did not automatically prove he had done so again, but it gave context to the current complaint. Police had been called because people believed he was acting like a police officer, and officers were now standing in front of him while he wore nearly every piece of equipment associated with that role.
A relative named Dicky was also present. When officers asked about the residence and the children nearby, Dicky wanted to separate himself from the situation. The officers dealt with the child arrangements while continuing to question Snow.
Eventually, they told Snow the detention had become an arrest.
“You’re no longer detained. You are under arrest.”
The officer explained that the firearm without a valid FOID card was one basis. The officer also said impersonating a police officer would be part of the case because of the complaint and Snow’s equipment.
Snow denied telling people that he was a cop. The officer responded that someone had seen the badge and had been concerned enough to call police. The investigation was about the totality of what Snow was doing, not merely whether he had spoken the exact sentence, “I am a police officer.”
Police listed what they could see: radio, badge, firearm, body camera, handcuffs, and duty gear. Snow insisted he carried it around the property and was not pretending to be law enforcement. But officers emphasized that the gun itself was a separate problem because of his status and lack of a valid FOID card.
They asked whether more firearms were inside the house. Snow said no. They checked the weapon they had recovered and determined it was loaded, including a round in the chamber. The officers then asked about the radio and where he had obtained it. Snow said he had bought it online and insisted it was not a police radio.
The internet purchases were relevant because almost every visual part of a police appearance can be purchased by civilians. A body camera, radio pouch, duty belt, handcuffs, generic badge, tactical gear, and even retired police vehicles can all be obtained without actually being a sworn officer. That is why the investigation had to focus on behavior, statements, legal possession, and whether the equipment was being used to deceive others.
Snow’s relatives also volunteered information that had little to do with the immediate complaint. At one point, someone mentioned a crossbow in a bedroom. There was also a lengthy explanation about neighborhood disputes, children practicing music, arguments with neighbors, marijuana use, and why the family believed police had been called previously.
Those side conversations did not change the central evidence, but they showed how chaotic the scene had become. Officers repeatedly tried to bring the discussion back to the issues that mattered: the firearm, the law-enforcement-style equipment, the prior complaints, and whether any additional weapons were present.
Then they noticed something else on the property: an old black-and-white police-style car with a light bar.
The vehicle did not appear to have moved recently. Dicky said it had been sitting for around two weeks. Snow or the family explained that it was an old Bloomington police car that had been purchased after retirement from service and later worked on. Retired cruisers can legally end up in private hands, but emergency lighting can create another problem depending on how it is equipped and used.
Officers asked what color the lights were. The answers were vague. At first, the family suggested the lights did not work. Then someone acknowledged that the bar could plug into the vehicle. Police asked for permission to test it.
The officers were careful about this because they did not yet have evidence that Snow had actually driven the vehicle on public roads while using prohibited lights. Merely owning an old police cruiser on private property was not the same thing as using it to impersonate law enforcement.
After receiving permission, they examined the light bar and managed to power it. The lights illuminated red and blue. That discovery fit the visual theme of the other items, but officers still discussed the limits of what they could prove. One officer noted that they could not establish that Snow had driven the vehicle with the emergency lights activated.
The old cruiser nevertheless added to the overall picture. Snow had a badge, body camera, handcuffs, duty belt, radio, firearm, and access to a black-and-white former police car equipped with functional red-and-blue lights. Neighbors had reported behavior they interpreted as police impersonation. Officers had also been looking for him because of previous reports.
At the same time, the investigation remained grounded in what could actually be charged. Officers repeatedly distinguished between what looked suspicious and what they had evidence to prove. They could establish the firearm issue. They could document the complaint and the equipment. They could confirm prior history. But they were more cautious about claiming the retired cruiser itself had been used illegally because they did not have direct proof of that use.
The source closed by summarizing the charges against Snow. He was charged with armed violence, impersonation of a police officer, impersonation of a police officer while armed, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Unlike the first case, the source stated that it was unable to locate a final sentencing outcome for Snow.
Taken together, the two incidents show why police-impersonation calls can become unusually complicated. In the first case, officers initially had reason to wonder whether the speeding man might be connected to some unfamiliar agency because he spoke about an informant and wore official-looking gear. Within minutes, people who knew him personally were saying he was no officer at all and accusing him of stealing money from their home.
In the second case, officers arrived because members of the public had already become suspicious of a man dressed in law-enforcement-style equipment near a school. The investigation revealed a real firearm, a questionable badge, a duty setup, prior impersonation history, and an old police car with functioning red-and-blue lights. But even there, officers still had to separate appearance from provable conduct.
Neither case turned on a costume alone. The first involved false identification, a fabricated emergency, an official-sounding persona, weapons-related allegations, and a robbery complaint. The second involved a firearm the officers said Snow could not lawfully possess, a full police-style presentation, an impersonation complaint, and a prior history that made the current report more concerning.
What made both encounters so strange was how quickly ordinary police work became an identity problem. One began as a speeding stop. The other began as a call about a suspicious man outside a school. In both, officers soon found themselves asking the same basic question in different ways: who exactly are you, and what authority do you really have?