EASLEY — An Easley man was arrested recently after police say he tried to steal a car by force and presented himself as a Greenville County sheriff’s deputy.

According to a Pickens County Sheriff’s Office news release, deputies responded to a disturbance call on Feb. 13 after receiving a report of a man trying to take a vehicle by force on Pope Field Road in Easley.

The victim told deputies a man had tried to take his vehicle outside his home by reaching into the window and grabbing him by the arm. The driver was able to get away and call 911, but later returned to find the man still at his home harassing his elderly mother, according to an arrest warrant. The victim said the man tried to reach inside the vehicle again before fleeing and threatening to return to “get them,” the warrant said.

Officers found a man matching the description given by the victim walking on Pope Field Road a short distance from the location of the incident.

Deputies said the man, identified as 23-year-old Alan Jacob Gunter, presented a Greenville County Sheriff’s Office badge and told officers, “I work for Greenville County,” according to an arrest warrant.

Gunter was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted carjacking and impersonating a police officer after deputies confirmed he is not an employee of the GCSO.

The badge was seized and turned over to Greenville County authorities, who are conducting their own investigation into how Gunter gained possession of it.

Gunter was being held Tuesday on a combined $50,000 surety bond at the Pickens County Detention Center.