Cop imposter charged in web scam

The Queens District Attorney's office said that they have arrested and charged an Astoria man, who had allegedly posed as a police officer and harassed an Astoria teen, after his victim found a clip of the scam on a popular video website, &#8220YouTube.com.”
Last July, as the teenager was walking home, Gazi Abura, 21, allegedly pulled alongside the boy in a burgundy car. After jumping out of the vehicle at the corner of 85th Street and 25th Avenue, Abura along with two other men, allegedly identified themselves as police officers, and told the boy to raise his hands above his head. The Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown alleges that the suspect then interrogated the 15-year-old boy about a robbery, saying that the boy matched the description of the suspect in the crime.
In the video, the boy was also asked where he was going and to show ID - his high school identification card - which was then shown in the video. A few weeks later, the teenager's friend told him that a video on &#8220YouTube.com” showed the incident, and the boy called the police.
Abura has been charged with second-degree criminal impersonation, second-degree coercion and second-degree unlawful imprisonment.
&#8220His alleged actions not only damage the reputation of our police officers - who already perform a difficult job - but potentially could have resulted in injury to the victim or even himself,” said DA Brown.
An investigation into the incident and any other possible suspects is ongoing, Brown said.