Police: North Charleston man posed as police officer

Harve Jacobs  bio | email

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - North Charleston cops say 34 year old Edward Wind tried to pose as a police officer. Investigators say Wednesday morning Wind, wearing a jacket with the word "Police" on it, went to Alex's restaurant to talk to Donna Parent.  Parent's daughter Brandy Hanna went missing four years ago.

"I said who are you?," Parent recalled. "He said I'm UC and I'm UC And I'm like UC? What the heck's that? And on his jacket it said police, and he said I'm undercover and I'm like o.k. But it felt wrong."

She said Wind wanted to talk to her about the poster of Brandy outside the restaurant. "He was telling me he was good at finding missing people and he wanted to help me and all this and the other."

It was Donna Parent's quick thinking that got Wind arrested. She remembered his license tag number. She texted it to the detective handling her daughter's case. The detective went to Wind's house, handcuffed him and hauled him off to jail.

And in bond court, things got bizarre when the judge asked Wind about his background. Wind claimed to be a consultant for the Charleston Police Department's band, and said he's doing clinical research at MUSC's Department of Psychiatry. "What psychiatrist are you working with at MUSC?" Judge Linda Lombard asked. "Um, Olga," Wind replied. "It's at the psychiatry, it's at the Institute of Psychiatry."

The judge wasn't buying it. "I'm a contributing member to the community," Wind said "I'm doing a lot of important things right now. To send me away, take me off the street is going to break a lot of hearts." Well sir, we're gonna have to break some hearts," said Judge Lombard.

Winn's bond was set at $250,000.

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