CUMMING — A Cumming man who tried taking the law into his own hands was arrested by the very person he had reportedly pretended to be — a sheriff’s deputy.
David Wayne Tumlin, 34, has been charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer after a May 5 incident in the Greystone apartment complex off Atlanta Road (Hwy. 9) near Ga. 400 at Exit 14.
Deputies responded to calls of an unruly man with the word “sheriff” written across a black T-shirt and a pistol strapped to his hip, said Robin Regan, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a sheriff’s report, the man had reportedly stated he was an off-duty cop from Decatur and made threats to arrest people and “call his partner to come help him take care of the situation.”
He was reportedly angry that two women were loudly arguing and “kept screaming at them to go inside and shut up.”
The report noted that he refused to show identification when asked by several residents of the apartment complex.
After speaking with witnesses and viewing surveillance footage that corroborated their accounts, detectives identified the man as Tumlin.
Tumlin was arrested on May 13 and, as of Thursday afternoon, remained in custody at the Forsyth County Detention Center on a $5,610 bond.
When speaking to detectives, Tumlin reportedly admitted to the acts, saying he had been under the influence of alcohol at the time.
“If you encounter an individual who you believe is impersonating law enforcement,” Regan said, “call 911 immediately.”