Pasco man allegedly pretended to be an officer so his mom wouldn’t report a $4,000 theft

A 28-year-old man allegedly posed as a police officer to stop his mom from reporting $4,000 in credit card fraud.

Prosecutors have charged Mitchell Davidson of Pasco with first-degree identity theft and second-degree criminal impersonation.

He’s been released from the jail on his own recognizance pending his trial.

Court documents don’t say how Davidson allegedly got his mother’s credit card. She told investigators that she opened the account in September, but hadn’t activated the card.

The card was used in November and December for $4,000 in purchases.

Davidson was allegedly spotted on video using the card to buy items from Fred Meyer and Walgreens. He also used his O’Reilly Auto Parts store account when using the card at the store.

Then on Jan. 2, Davidson made a video call to his mother to report that he had been pistol-whipped and the house they shared was robbed.

His mother called police as she drove home, and also told officers that she wanted to report a fraud connected to her credit card.

The day after, she got a text that said Pasco police couldn’t help her because they were in the middle of two calls. The actual police officer who initially responded to her call said he never sent the text.

Pasco detectives believe her son sent the message to prevent her from filing the fraud report.

Investigators learned the phone number used to send the text message belonged to Davidson’s grandfather, who lives in an assisted living home and doesn’t have the mental capacity to open a credit account.

Both Davidson’s mother and grandmother told investigators this isn’t the first time he had allegedly stolen from them.

He has a history of convictions that include forgery, identity theft and burglary.