Cops: Suspect kidnapped Queens man, impersonated officer

A man remained jailed Sunday after authorities said he impersonated a police officer while kidnapping a DVD peddler, demanded ransom from the victim's Queens family, and was caught only after real cops pulled the suspect's car over for an unrelated traffic violation.

Daniel Levine, 25, who has no known address, was arraigned Sunday on charges of kidnapping, criminal impersonation, grand larceny and child endangerment.

Levine, who at one point stopped at a Bohemia motel to pick up his wife, their 4-month-old son and a pit bull, was in the middle of negotiating ransom over the phone with the Queens family Saturday afternoon when two Suffolk police officers in Brentwood saw him fail to signal, said Det. Sgt. Daniel Molloy of the Patchogue-based Fifth Squad.

"It unraveled pretty quickly," Molloy said.

Levine's wife, Amanda Simmons, 20, was arraigned Sunday on charges of kidnapping and child endangerment.

Molloy said Levine had a police-badge holder displaying a Patrolmen's Benevolent Association union card from New Jersey hanging from his neck. The 44-year-old victim initially thought Levine was a legitimate police officer, Molloy said.

The cultural and language barrier between the native-Chinese speaker and the suspects made him more gullible to their ruse, Molloy said.

"They claimed they were the police, and he's going to go to jail for five years if you don't come up with money," Molloy said the suspects told the man's family.

The family, Molloy said, was "prepared to honor this deal that they brokered."

The kidnapping began Saturday at about 12:15 outside a car wash on Lakeland Avenue in Bohemia, when Levine told the peddler that he was arresting him.

"He said he was a police officer and that the DVDs were illegal. He took the bag of the DVDs from the guy and grabbed his arm and forcefully pushed him into the car," Molloy said.

About two hours later, Officers Richard Tofano and Thomas Janickey stopped the 2009 Infiniti G37. When the real police approached, Molloy said, the victim pointed to Levine and said, "Well, he says he's police."

Authorities gave custody of the couple's 4-month-old son and their dog to the mother's sister, Molloy said.

Detectives are still trying to investigate how the couple got hold of the late-model luxury car.