A felony case accusing the son of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson of impersonating a police officer is headed to a grand jury after a judge found probable cause to move the charge forward this week.
Sands Stimpson was charged in May with impersonating a peace officer after showing an Alabama state trooper a deputy game and fish warden badge during a traffic stop on Bay Bridge Road. The trooper testified that Stimpson displayed a badge and identified himself as a “game and fish law enforcement officer,” but did not have the sworn officer identification card carried by certified law enforcement personnel.
Testimony at the hearing detailed how the trooper, suspicious of the discrepancy, contacted the state’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries office and was told there was no record of Stimpson serving as a game warden. A district conservation officer who responded to the scene testified about the state’s deputy game warden program, which allows qualifying individuals to help protect game and fish on private property but does not grant them law enforcement equipment, badges or arrest powers. That officer said he had previously administered the written test for the program to Stimpson but did not recall his face.
Stimpson’s attorney argued there was no probable cause to support the charge, saying his client never identified himself as a police officer or acted in that capacity, and characterized the incident as a misunderstanding. The presiding judge acknowledged it may have been a misunderstanding but said it could have been avoided with more straightforward representation during the stop.
Stimpson previously released a written statement along with a 2007 letter from a state wildlife official authorizing him to carry a deputy game warden badge, saying his commission applies to private property in Clarke County and that he is the third generation of his family to hold the designation. He said he never represented himself as something he was not and that he behaved professionally during the stop.
The case will now proceed to a Mobile County grand jury, which will determine whether formal charges move forward.