MARY ESTHER, Fla., Nov. 8, 2024—A retired Naval intelligence officer was arrested in Mary Esther Monday for impersonating a federal officer.

Salvatore Mario Gruny, 69, from Shalimar, is charged with openly carrying a weapon, displaying a weapon during a felony, fraud/impersonating an official, unlawful use of blue lights and unlawful use of police badge insignia.

On Monday, a man pulled over on U.S. Highway 98, east of Hurlburt Field in Mary Esther, called the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office to report a possible police impersonator.

While deputies were en route to the scene, Gruny contacted the sheriff’s office communications section stating he was an officer with the Office of Naval Intelligence and had stopped a car for reckless driving, according to the arrest report.

Responding deputies found the caller’s car pulled to the side of Hwy 98. Gruny was parked behind the caller in his Dodge Charger with flashing blue lights in the front windshield and red, blue and white lights in the back window.

The victim told deputies Gruny told him he was being stopped for reckless driving. When the victim asked Gruny if he was a cop, Gruny stated he was a government agent and displayed his ONI badge and gun.

Gruny told OCSO deputies he worked for the Navy Criminal Investigative Service but showed them an ONI badge and an identification card with what appeared to be a photograph added on after the ID was issued, according to the report

Gruny said he stopped the vehicle for reckless driving. He had a loaded 9mm on his right hip.

NCIS told OCSO that Gruny had never been an NCIS agent. ONI officials said he is a retired ONI officer and had been warned for similar behavior in the past, according to the report.

According to Sheriff Eric Aden, impersonation of an officer is a rare occurrence in Okaloosa County.

“We have unmarked cars and we have people in plain clothes. They’re typically not even pulling cars over,” he said. “If you get pulled over with an unmarked car with us, it’s going to be someone typically in uniform.”

Most of the time, in Okaloosa County, uniformed deputies in marked green-and-white patrol vehicles will conduct traffic stops, said Aden.

If there’s a question about the legitimacy of an enforcement officer during a traffic stop, a call to the sheriff’s office will receive an immediate response, he said.

Staff and OCSO news release