Police Impersonation Citation Dropped Against Braintree Resident

While the Braintree police may have thought that there was more than meets the eye when it came to a car that looked liked a Decepticon, a clerk at Quincy District Court disagreed.

On Thursday, a Braintree man’s citation for impersonating a police officer was dropped after a clerk magistrate hearing.

According to the driver’s lawyer Russell Martin, the clerk believed that the driver did not have an intent to impersonate a police officer with his Maserati, which was temporarily designed to look like the Decepticon Barricade from Transformers.

Police argued that the car, based on a character that transforms into a police car, was a legitimate threat to public safety and that there was an intent to impersonate a police officer.

Since the incident did not meet the statute, the citation was dropped, a formal criminal complaint was not issued, and this will not be on the driver’s record.

In August, the driver was given a citation by Braintree police after he was seen driving around down in the vehicle based on the Decepticon.

On the side of the car was a shield with the Decepticon logo and the character’s motto: “Punish and Enslave.”

The vehicle had police markings and “speed enforcement” lettered on its rear bumper according to police but did not have any official police badges or emblems.