Remember Ethan Couch? The teen who avoided prison after killing four people while driving under the influence because he suffered from “affluenza,” the terrible condition of being too privileged? Well his father may suffer from a similar condition—he was busted last month for impersonating a cop.
On July 28, police received a call regarding a disturbance between two neighbors in North Richland Hills in Texas. When they rolled up to the scene, they came upon Fred Couch, father of Ethan, who repeatedly claimed he was a reserve police officer and mentioned that he left his “police stuff” in his car. Yes, his “police stuff.” He may as well have said “cop thingies” or “fuzz toys.” Via Raw Story:
“He kept putting his hands in his pocket, and that has a tendency to make officers nervous [because] they don’t know what your intensions are,” said Keith Bauman, of North Richland Hills police.
He flashed a wallet containing what appeared to be a police badge and identification card, and police allowed Couch to leave.
But one of the responding officers had previously worked for Lakeside police, and he said the badge did not look legitimate and began investigating his claims.
It didn’t take long to discover that Fred Couch – who left this Police Stuff in the car – was not and had never been a licensed officer. He was subsequently charged with false identification as a police officer and has been released on $2,500 bond. Way to go, Fred. Also, my deepest sympathies for your devastating diagnosis of po-polio. It should probably be noted that Couch has been busted for several other crimes including theft, evading arrest, alleged assault, and a whole load of driving citations, but he’s a millionaire, so whatever.
Also, just a reminder. A white teen kills four people and gets rehab. A black teen walks in the middle of the street, having stolen a few cigarillos,* and is shot to death. Affluenza is real, and it is truly a life-threatening disease.
*Oh wait, the cigarillo thing was a ridiculous and shameless attempt at taking down Mike Brown’s character. Fuck that.
Image via KDFW.