Youth Pastor Flashed Sheriff Badge to Prove He Was a Good Person, Not to Steal Identity
A youth evangelist who flashed his honorary sheriff's badge earlier this year did so as "an attempt to show the character of who he was," and not because he was trying to impersonate a law enforcement officer, a witness testified at his preliminary hearing on Monday.
Matt Pitt is currently serving the remaining 10 months of a one-year prison sentence after authorities revoked his probation when he was charged for impersonating a police officer for the second time since 2012. His Dec. 9 hearing was to determine whether there was sufficient probable cause to maintain the charge. Upon its conclusion, the judge said she intended to send the case to a grand jury, reported AL.com.
Bailey Little, Pitt's cousin, who was with him during the June 15 incident, testified that he and youth evangelist had been confronted by Brad Lunsford and Brandon Vessels and that only after persistent questioning, had Pitt flashed the badge and told the men to call the sheriff's office.
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Little said that prior to the incident, he and Pitt had been in the car for close to 45 minutes before they went into the woods to pick two four-wheelers and a BB gun that he had left there a couple days earlier.
According to Little, Lunsford and Vessels interrogated them about the gun and if they were using drugs. One of them also confronted Pitt, recognizing him from his previous incident of impersonating an officer. Pitt warned him "not twist things around and told him the previous incident didn't involve a badge."
Chris Sharit, Jefferson County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. and the case's detective, also testified. According to Sharit, Vessels told him that he had seen individuals going back and forth between a parked SUV and the woods. Vessels said that that he went to investigate because he had heard that there had recently been drug activity in the area.
There, Vessels reportedly discovered a rifle under the leaves next to a four-wheeler, according to Sharit. He added that Vessels believed the gun could have been stolen and decided to call 911. After he made the call, Vessels said that he was approached by two men on a four-wheeler, one of whom identified himself as Matt Pitt and showed him his police badge after Vessels informed him that he had already called the police. Pitt also told him to call the sheriff's department before he and Little left with the gun and both four-wheelers.
Lunsford added to this account, saying that he had seen heard music outside his house for at least an hour and a half. He also went into the woods and found a rifle under the leaves before returning to his house, telling his wife to call law enforcement and returning with Vessels, both armed with handguns.
Lunsford also said that Pitt's and Little's excuse that they had left the rifle in the woods "so kids couldn't find it" "didn't make any sense."
Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens told AL.COM in October that while Pitt should have pleaded to a felony for impersonating a police officer last year, the DA had let him plead to a misdemeanor because he felt that the youth leader was serious about staying out of trouble.
"In this job sometimes you just take risks on people, give people a chance," said Owens. "Everybody makes mistakes and you can't judge what might happen in the future."
"His (Pitt's) past has a color to it but his recent past has been doing some good things," said Owens of The Basement. "So I gave him a chance to continue those things and he chose to ignore it."
In May 2012, authorities charged Pitt with impersonating a police officer, alleging that he flashed blue lights and pulled over cars on the freeway.
