Video tip leads to man arrested, charged with impersonating law enforcement, Galveston PD says

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Galveston police arrested a man who they say was impersonating an ICE agent.

What looked like a late-night traffic stop to the people behind the camera immediately felt wrong.

"What the hell did we just see?" Robert Harvey said. "That wasn't even a cop."

Robert Harvey and Bruce Rebmann are self-described community activists behind Harvey Freebird and Galveston Island Transparency who patrol Galveston County streets and regularly record police incidents. Nearly two months ago, they came upon what they thought was one near Galveston's Strand in the 400 block of 24th Street.

"He was doing everything a normal police officer does," Harvey recalled. "He had people's IDs in his hand, he was shining a flashlight at these people in the face."

However, Harvey says he quickly realized something wasn't right.

"I noticed his gear and his outfit, it looked like it just came in from TEMU," Harvey said. "It wasn't like what real cops wear."

Harvey said there wasn't a police cruiser either. In the video, Harvey's heard asking for a name and badge number, but the person responded, "I don't have to give it to you."

Harvey asked to see a badge. Eventually, he said one was shown, and Harvey said the person hit Rebmann in the face with it.

Moments later, the man took off in a blue vehicle. Harvey said they tracked down officers around the corner.

"I felt like this guy needed to be snitched on," Harvey explained. "That was very dangerous what he was doing. We don't like bad cops, but somebody pretending to be a bad cop is worse than a bad cop."

Galveston police said the incident sparked an investigation. Days ago, officers arrested Joshua Warner.

Officers said witnesses told them Warner pretended to be an ICE agent. Warner faces two counts of impersonating a public servant, but Galveston detectives believe there may be more victims.

That's why they released his mug shot and information to social media, asking anyone who may have been unlawfully detained by Warner to contact police.

"After I shared the video, messages came in from everywhere," Harvey said. "I probably got a hundred emails. A hundred messages on Messenger."

Warner's currently behind bars, where he's being held on a half-million-dollar bond. ABC13 contacted the person listed as his attorney, but did not hear back.

Warner's scheduled to be in court at the end of January.

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