A suspended police chief has been charged with trespassing and impersonating a police officer.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office says that Benjamin Ruiz was seen hiding outside of a convenience store on Smith Street on multiple occasions spanning a three-month period, watching an unidentified neighbor.

When the store employees asked what he was doing outside the store, he told them that he was a police officer.

However, investigators say that Ruiz was not working in an official police capacity.

Ruiz has been suspended since 2014 after he was charged with theft for allegedly using the police department's mechanic to repair his personal vehicle.