One Too Many Demands for Discounts Led to a Good Ol' Fashioned Sting at a Dunkin' Donuts -- and You Won't Believe How It All Bottomed Out

Here he comes again.

Employees were getting used to seeing the same guy, hitting up the same Dunkin Donuts in New Port Richey, Fla., asking once more for a discount on his order.

And he didn't even have a coupon. He said he was a cop, and that 10 percent off his bill was standard operating procedure for law-enforcement officers.

At first he said he was a U.S. Marshal, then a U.S. Air Marshal, the Tampa Bay Times said.

Charles Barry (Image source: Pasco County Sherriff's Office)

And Charles T. "Chuck" Barry, 48, kept coming in. Sometimes he even brought his family on weekends.

The last straw came about a week ago when Barry pulled into the drive-thru lane, flashed a sheriff's gold-star badge, identified himself as a law enforcement officer, and asked for a discount on his order of doughnuts, according to WFLA-TV in Tampa.

But this time the clerk said no.

Instead of taking the denial as a sign from the heavens, Barry doubled down: According to the Times, he held up a .38-caliber revolver — still in its holster — and said, "See? I'm a cop!"

The cashier later told deputies Barry never pointed the gun at him, the Times reported; WFLA added that Barry didn't threaten anybody with the gun and didn't take it out of the holster, either.

Still, the scenario was getting a tad too odd for store manager Michelle Hoeltk to just let slide anymore, so when Pasco County Sheriff's Capt. James Mallo stopped in the shop recently for his morning coffee, the Times reported, Hoeltk asked him if cops typically requested discounts.

Nope, he told her.

Sure enough, Barry was back on November 7 — but this time Hoeltk got his license plate number.

The sting was on.

Surveillance was set up at the Dunkin Donuts a few days later with an undercover deputy in the store.

Video captured Barry going through the drive-through lane again:

And that's when deputies pulled Barry over for a traffic stop and saw a law enforcement badge in his wallet and noted he was carrying a .38 caliber revolver in his front pocket, WFLA reported. There was also ammunition in his car, ABC News noted.

The sticking point? Berry isn't even a cop.

The badge he hailed for the doughnut discounts belonged to his late father, who served as a captain with the Morris County (N.J.) Sheriff's Office, the Times reported.

"He was very sorry he did what he did," Capt. Mallo told WFLA. "I believe he was even crying on scene. He made a huge mistake."

Barry faces charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer and improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon, ABC News reported, adding that he was released Tuesday on $5,150 bail, police said.

ABC News added that previous alleged incidents occurred June 6, 7, and 12.

Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco emphasized he's glad the cashier challenged Barry. "It's okay to question," Nocco said, according to the Times. "It really is an issue that people out there are trying to play cops, and they could have done something crazy that could have hurt somebody. We're thankful that it was just a cup of coffee."

"These people who impersonate law enforcement officers, they are in a fantasy world," Nocco continued, WFLA reported. "There is definitely something not right with them. They have issues. The fact that it's Dunkin Donuts today, what's tomorrow? Is he going to pull somebody over?"

And a report from WTSP-TV:

(H/T: WRTV-TV)

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