Charles Mueller, of Climax, was arrested by the Dothan Police Department on Friday on the charge of impersonating a police officer. According to Lieutenant Will Glover of the Dothan Police Department, Mueller was arrested after impersonating a federal officer.

“Thursday afternoon, Mueller identified himself as a federal law enforcement officer and told the victim that he was doing a firearms inspections,” Glover said.

Mueller allegedly made contact with the victim in the parking lot of a gun shop in Dothan after overhearing a conversation between the victim and the shop’s owner about an assault rifle that the victim owns.

“Mueller told the guy that what he was describing was illegal,” Glover said.

According to Glover, Mueller convinced the victim to allow him to come to his residence so that he could inspect the victim’s firearms including the rifle in question. After his “investigation”, Mueller allegedly told the victim that what he owned was in fact illegal.

“Mueller told the guy he was going to open an investigation and [the victim] could be federally charged,” Glover said.

Mueller did not confiscate the weapon though. When Mueller left, the victim returned to the same gun shop to ask the owner if what he owned was in fact illegal. The owner told him it was not and then contacted the local ATF agent who then contacted the Dothan Police according to Glover.

“The gun shop owner identified him from the surveillance video,” Glover said.

Dothan Police officers, along with ATF and the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Mueller in Climax.

He is currently charged by the Dothan Police. According to Glover, Alabama state only requires the suspect to identify him or herself as a police officer. Glover said that the ATF is investigating, but that federal law requires the person impersonating an officer to take an item from the victim, which Mueller did not do.