A judge on Wednesday rejected the sentencing aspect of a plea bargain, which means an Independence man will have to serve at least 12 more days for impersonating a police officer. Associate Circuit Judge Keith Marquart said probation was not appropriate in the case of Phillip Herrera.

Herrera, 35, told Judge Marquart he had made a stupid mistake, setting out on his own to investigate a stolen vehicle that he’d heard about on a police scanner.

Investigators say Herrera had emergency police lights and a spotlight on his vehicle, wore police-department and homeland security patches, and carried a gun. He was arrested after an incident April 9 along NW 26th Road near Rosecrans Airport. He was charged with false impersonation of a law enforcement officer, a class-a misdemeanor offense.

The original arrangement was for Herrera to plead guilty and be sentenced a 60-day suspended sentence with 16 days of shock time. That’s the amount of time he’s already spent in the Buchanan County Jail. He had hoped to go free for his plea on Wednesday.

But Marquart said probation was not appropriate. Instead he sentenced Herrera to 28 days, with credit given for those 16 days he’s already served.

That means Herrera must serve another 12 days before he will be released.