Repo Man Arrested for Impersonating Police

Riverside, NJ – May 25, 2014 – As if there weren’t enough dangers involved in repossessing vehicles in the field, tack onto that the problematic nature of wearing a badge while doing it. That appears to be the situation with 27 year old Gilberto M. Nunes Jr of Federal Recovery out of Wayne NJ.

At approximately 2:56 PM on the 25^th, Riverside Police received a complaint from a resident regarding a white Camaro speeding on Hecker St. Within minutes a vehicle matching the witness description was located and a stopped. The driver of the vehicle was found to be a Repossession and Recovery agent identified as Gilberto M. Nunes Jr. of Brooklyn NY. A check of Nunes NY driver’s license revealed he was valid in NY but had a suspended NJ driver’s license. Warrants for Nunes arrests totaling $2200 were reported out of various NJ Municipalities.

Nunes was taken into custody without incident, but during the initial contact with Nunes he identified himself to police as a Federal Recovery agent or “repo man”, and the vehicle he was found to be driving was a vehicle he recently had recovered under a bank “repo” order.

During the processing of the suspect a witness came forward and reported to police that a male matching the suspect’s description had threatened her while she was at her residence in Riverside. The witness further stated the threats involved the suspect telling her he was a law enforcement officer and he would place her under arrest if she did not comply with his orders. The witness advised police the threats were made on two separate occasions and during the first confrontation the suspect had a badge on a chain around his neck when he portrayed himself as a police officer.

On the second occasion the witness stated the suspect had the badge around his neck but did not take it out but again threatened the victim by intimidating her, and the witness stated she asked him for his credentials and the suspect refused. The witness advised police that the suspect frequented the property she lived in and may have been related to the landlord. The witness stated she saw the suspect recently driving a blue tow truck labeled with a name of Federal Recovery in a triangle type shape on the door that resembled that of many police department vehicles in New Jersey, including Riverside’s. The witness gave a written statement to police regarding the incident.

Information was obtained that lead police to believe the suspect did have a “badge” in his tow truck. Consent to search was given to police by Nunes and located in the truck subsequent to the search was a large can of Law Enforcement style pepper spray, a baseball bat, and a “billy club”. A badge similar to that used by all law enforcement officers was located in the center console. Imprinted on the badge it stated “Repossession Recovery Agent United States of America.” All items were seized as evidence.