Man Claims to be a Police Officer During a Brawl, Then Reveals His True Identity

Chinese onlookers. (Feng Li/Getty Images)

A man may have unknowingly impersonated a police officer when he got into a fight with another person. He could have fooled the onlookers at first. But when he took out his identification, they started to realize who he really was. What he showed was a document that only individuals with physical or mental disabilities carry with them in China.

The altercation took place in Mudanjiang City, in China’s northeastern province of Heilongjiang on May 20. Local police detained both men after arriving at the scene.

The men, whose names were not given, did not suffer serious injuries after the fight, according to Chinese online media The Beijing Times.

Mistaken Identity

Footage shot by a smartphone user shows the beginning of the physical confrontation. The mentally disabled man, in the blue jacket, charges at the man in black, throwing punches. The man in black back pedals, then falls to the ground.

The man in blue swings a few more times, and is seen with both of his hands around the other man’s neck. Other men along the sides shout “Don’t hit him!”

“You assaulted an armed police officer!” the man in blue shouted as he pulled out a red certificate booklet from his shoulder bag. In China, government issued booklets are used for many forms of certification.

The booklet was in fact a certificate of physical and mental disability.

The man in blue curses while pointing at the other individual, kneeling over him. “You attacked a public official by surprise.”

After the man in blue gets up and puts his hat on, people who witnessed the fight expressed doubts about the identification that he had presented, according to The Beijing Times. The man takes out the booklet once more, he opens it up to look at it, and quickly closes it.

He then takes off his blue jacket while the crowd moves in closer around him.

He said he had to show off his muscular development to prove that he is a retired armed police officer, according to The Beijing Times. Police later arrived on the scene, and took the man in blue away.

Footage shows that the man in black was left with a nosebleed as he lay on a stretcher. Police also photographed him for evidence.

Local media reported that the man in blue was not a police officer and had never been one, according to The Beijing Times.