Man pretends to be officer, searches people for drugs

A man wandering around a parking garage on North Walnut Street early Friday morning was impersonating a police officer and searching people for drugs, police say.\nKawanie Masai Jefferson, 34, now faces preliminary charges of public intoxication, impersonating a police officer and possession of marijuana.\nTwo Bloomington Police Department officers were on call in front of Kilroy's Sports Bar, 319. N. Walnut St., when they witnessed an altercation on the first level of the parking garage across the street. When they went to check on the situation, a 30-year-old man told them he was walking down the stairs when Jefferson approached him and said he was a police officer and was going to search him for drugs, according to the report.\nThe victim told police that Jefferson searched his pockets and then grabbed his arm, forcing him up the stairwell.\nDrake said the officers found a bag of marijuana in each of Jefferson's socks.\nJefferson told officers he was only joking, Drake said.