Man charged with impersonating an officer

BOSTON (WHDH) -- A man is facing charges after he posed as a police officer, and kept a mother from her young daughter who was having an asthma attack.

It happened in the middle of Callender Street in Dorchester. A mother of three, with one on the way, was held against her will and not allowed inside her home. Meanwhile, her 4-year-old daughter was having difficulty breathing just feet away behind this apartment window.

"Accusing us of being drunk. And I’m like, ‘I don't drink [I’m pregnant],” Robenia Chambers said.

Robenia Chambers and her boyfriend just wanted to get medicine for their daughter who was having an asthma attack.

“He told us ‘Stop, don't go nowhere,’ He was yelling at us, screaming at us,” Chambers said. “Of course you're the law. I'm not going to fight with you."

Police say 44-year-old John Carrington pretended to be an off-duty police officer. Chambers never suspected a thing.

"I was actually panicking. I thought I’m in trouble. I cut this guy off. This is the law. My daughter is inside. This is the worst night ever," Chambers said.

According to the police report, Carrington followed the couple home. He demanded money, and refused to let the couple inside to check on the safety of their little girl who was with her older brother.

“He was like ‘you could either pay $200 or $100 now. And I’m like, ‘I don't have that,’" Chambers said. "’I know where you live. I know your car. Every time I see that car, I’m going to pull that car over.’”

At that point, Chambers’ motherly instinct took over. She just wanted her daughter to be safe.

“’If you're going to arrest me. Arrest me. At least call an EMT for my daughter because you're not letting me get inside,’” Chambers said.

Police slapped the cuffs on Carrington in the same spot he claimed to be a man of the law just moments earlier.

"He told us his name was Officer John Brown. Badge number 1426,” Chambers said.

Carrington is in jail on a 5 $5000 bond. He is charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and impersonating a police officer.